The New Warrior
by ckaira77
Summary: Shadow finds himself mysteriously in a world that's not his own. He's also become a cat! He finds himself introduced to Sonic who is known as Sonicwind in this world. Sonicwind allows Shadow to join his clan. SunClan. Shadow finds everyone related to someone he knows. Will he ever be able to figure out the ways of the warrior cats or how he can return to his own world?
1. Prologue

**SunClan**

 **Leader:** **Knucklestar** (Knuckles) - Bright red tom with violet eyes with anger issues at times. Has claws that are longer than any of the other cats of the two clans, but he is still nice and tries to be the best leader he can be.

 **Deputy:** **Sonicwind** (Sonic) - The fastest silver-blue tom of the clans. He is sometimes referred to as the blue blur. He is very valuable in combat and has a very caring and compassionate personality.

Apprentice: Doublepaw (Tails)

 **Medicine cat:** **Cosmicleaf** (Cosmo) - A white she-cat who's very calm and caring. She's willing to help anyone in need.

Apprentice: Creampaw (Cream)

 **Warriors**

 **Silverflight** (Silver) - A silver tom who has amazing jumping abilities. Sometimes looks like he can fly. Can be naive at times.

Apprentice: Cheesepaw

 **Blazepelt** (Blaze) - A surprisingly purple she-cat with a calm personality. Very agile and beautiful.

Apprentice: Goldenpaw

 **Roseheart** (Amy) - A pink she-cat who's obsessed about the deputy Sonicwind. She fights with Acorntail who also has feelings for Sonicwind. She gets mad easily but is still a good friend.

 **Acorntail** (Sally) - A brown she-cat with a calm personality. She is really smart and fights with Rosepetal to get Sonicwind's heart. She always thinks logically before jumping into anything.

 **Diamondwing** (Rouge) - A white she-cat who's very sly. She works well with Camoflight as spies for her clan. She will do anything for gemstones.

 **Camoflight** (Espio) - A dark black tom who is a spy for his clan with Diamondwing. He tends to keep to himself and can easily disappear in the blink of an eye. Even in the day with everyone looking…

 **Crocscale** (Vector) - A brown tom with black stripes that make him look like he's got scales. He's the strongest in the clan other than Knucklestar. Despite the way he looks, he's kindhearted.

Apprentice: Beepaw

 **Jetstorm** (Jet) - A lime green tom who hates Sonicwind. His main goal is to take Sonicwind's position and become the deputy.

 **Queens**

 **Vanillaflower** (Vanilla) - A cream-colored she-cat with brown eyes who's extremely nice and caring to almost everyone. Mother of Creampaw and Dawnkit.

 **Wavefeather** (Wave) - A magenta colored she-cat who's just about as smart as Doublepaw and Acorntail. She's mother to Swiftkit and Lightkit.

 **Apprentices**

 **Creampaw** (Cream) - A cream-colored she-cat with brown eyes. She's the medicine cat apprentice. Just about as caring as her mother and mentor.

 **Beepaw** (Charmy) - A yellow tom with black stripes. Tends to be very hyper and does drive Crocscale and Camoflight crazy a lot.

 **Cheesepaw** (Cheese) - A silver tom who only just started training. Despite how small he is, he's very tough. Doesn't say much other than "Mew."

 **Goldenpaw** (?) - A golden she-cat with blue eyes. She's close friends with Creampaw and is popular among the warriors.

 **Doublepaw** (Tails) - A yellow tom with two tails. Extremely clever and quick to outwit even the smartest warriors. He is close to becoming a warrior.

 **Kits**

 **Dawnkit** \- A tabby tom with more energy than most. Can't wait to start training and sometimes drives the queens crazy. Is really close to becoming an apprentice.

 **Swiftkit** \- A white tom with black spots. A rather serious kit who tries to isolate himself from everyone else. A personal favorite of Jet's.

 **Lightkit** \- A tabby she-cat with quick abilities. She's a lot more active than her brother and is a lot more positive. Really close to becoming an apprentice.

 **Emeraldkit** (Zaira) - A pitch black she-cat with green eyes. It's not known how she first came to the camp. She claims to be from the rival clan. Nobody knows. She is usually mysterious.

 **Shadowkit** (Shadow) - A black tom with red eyes and red stripes. He appeared the same way Emeraldkit did only weeks later. He also seems to know more than the average kit.

 **Prologue**

Shadow the Hedgehog weakly opened his eyes expecting to see the ceiling of his room or see Sonic hanging over him yelling about how he should have listened to him. He remembered that he got hit by one of Eggman's crazy gadgets that knocked him out cold. His head hurt like crazy as he sat up. He looked around and discovered that he wasn't locked up in his room. He was in the middle of a forest. Sunlight poured through the branches of the trees and he could hear the soft sounds of little creatures rustling through the undergrowth.

"Where am I…? What happened…?" Shadow asked looking around.

Everything seemed larger than he was. He was zapped by one of Dr. Eggman's machines. Maybe it just worked for once. He just didn't know what "worked" meant.

Once the pain in his head began to go away, he got up and started looking around. The odd thing was that when he stood up, he stood up on all fours. Shadow felt ridiculous for a moment and tried to stand up on two legs. He lost his balance and fell over onto his hands. Shadow didn't get what was going on.

"What's happened?! Why can't I walk?!" he demanded.

He felt that suddenly someone was watching him. Shadow felt unnerved by the presence. Alarm flew through his fur and he could have sworn that he felt his fur grow ten times larger.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you think you're a Twoleg or something?" asked a voice that sounded for some reason like Sonic's.

Shadow's fur suddenly returned to normal size when he felt relieved to know who was talking to him. It was Sonic. Although, what was a Twoleg? Why didn't he call him Shadow? Why was his voice somewhere above him in the trees?

"I'm no Twoleg! I'm a hedgehog!" Shadow answered to Sonic.

"HA! And hedgehogs fly! Do you really expect me to believe that?!" asked Sonic. It was obvious that he was trying not to laugh.

"Am I not a hedgehog?! I'm Shadow! You're Sonic aren't you?" Shadow asked looking up into the trees to see two green eyes poking out of the branches. "Are you afraid to show your face?!"

Sonic laughed again. Shadow was beginning to feel insulted. His tail suddenly felt longer as it twitched back and forth… "I am Sonic… Although, that's not my full name… Am I afraid of you? NEVER! You aren't even my age! I could simply pick you up by the scruff and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it! Are you a kittypet or something? Only the ones from MoonClan ever dared to speak to me this way!" Sonic hissed.

Shadow's head spun. What was he talking about? Twolegs, kittypets, MoonClan? None of it made sense. He felt something on his hand dig into the ground almost on its own. When he looked down at his hands, he saw that they weren't hands. They were tiny paws. Little kitten paws. Shadow finally knew why Sonic wasn't afraid of him now. He had been turned into a useless kit. Even so, he still had no idea what was going on.

"Who's your mother? You shouldn't be on our territory! I'd drive you out, but you are only a kit. Are you a spy from MoonClan?!" demanded Sonic.

"No! I don't even know what in the world MoonClan is! I don't have a mother! I don't know where I am!" Shadow cried finding that he was squeaking like a kit. He then began to cry uncontrollably on the ground. He tried to fight the tears that were streaming down his face. It was no use at all. He felt as helpless as the kit he was.

"Aw… Don't cry! It makes me feel bad! UGH! I can't refuse a helpless little kit even if I am to drive out all intruders!" a silver-blue tom jumped down from the trees and looked down upon Shadow with a gleam in his eyes. He gave Shadow a half smile and sat down with his tail wrapped neatly around him. "You know the first part of my name. Sonic. However, this is not my full name. I am known as Sonicwind. I'm the deputy of SunClan. You say that your name is Shadow?"

Shadow sat up straight. He felt a force that made him feel comfortable and scared in Sonicwind's presence. He never felt something like this from the Sonic he knew. Maybe that was because it was he who had more power and authority. Shadow nodded to Sonicwind.

"Very well. You shall follow me to the camp. Our leader shall decide what your fate shall be. Keep in mind that I'm not saving you. I'm just helping you for now. I don't want to hear another squeak from you until we get there. By the way, the only way to stay is to keep up!" Sonicwind yelled dashing away. He was gone in an instant.

Shadow calculated the direction he went and ran after him in a full sprint. The wind smacked his face and tore at his whiskers. Shadow ignored the feeling and rejected all the wants to stop running. He focussed on his breathing and where he was heading. Shadow saw Sonicwind's footprints in the dirt below him. He screeched to a halt when they vanished. He sniffed the air and found that he could detect the sharp tang of Sonicwind's scent on the branches. He used his claws to dig into the bark and climb up into the trees. He hopped along the branches easily with the help of his tail that gave him balance.

Sonicwind, who was little ways away, laughed to himself and shook his head. "That kit will never catch up to me! He doesn't even know the ways of the warrior! He'll never catch up!" Sonicwind continued to laugh. He was the fastest cat in the forest. There was no way that Shadow could possibly overtake him. Until a shadow of a cat jumped over him. Sonicwind gasped in alarm.

"You are not ditching me today!" yelled Shadow. He could sense Sonicwind's surprise. It was almost like when he first met Sonic on that one road. He had used chaos control and amazed him with his teleportation abilities. Sonic was accusing him of getting him in trouble while he just smirked at the hedgehog. In the end, he got the best of Sonic. He teleported away making Sonic look like the bad guy again and Sonic got arrested. Best day of his life.

"Shadow! Can you hear me?!" begged a voice that sounded like Sonic's. Sonicwind hadn't said a word. Who was the voice?

"Wha- AH!" Shadow cried. His paw got caught on a branch and he tripped on it. He felt himself lurch forward and fall little ways. As soon as Shadow was halfway to the ground, he felt someone bite into his neck firmly. He stopped and looked up to see Sonicwind hauling him back up onto a branch.

"That's it. You got me! I'll try to convince the leader to let you stay. I'd say that's enough racing for now! I've never had such fast competition. A friendly suggestion for the future, please don't get distracted. Why don't we get back to the ground and walk back?" asked Sonicwind.

"Yeah… I think that'd be best…," Shadow gasped still trying to get over what happened.

As Shadow climbed down the tree, he thought he heard the voice again. The Sonic in his mind sounded a little frantic. It didn't matter. What mattered then was what was going on. He followed Sonicwind without a second thought of the voice.

ZairaDrayan: Yep! New story! Bound to be pretty good and has lots of potential! Please let me know what you think of this and I'll continue to do my best on working on this. I won't stop, no matter what you say! Thanks for taking the time to read this!


	2. Actual chapter 1

Chapter 1

"We're almost there. We should be at the front door in a few heartbeats!" Sonicwind told Shadow. Shadow looked around trying to find something that may act as a door for an entire clan of cats. When Sonic announced that they had arrived, he couldn't see the entrance anywhere.

"Sonicwind, I can't find the door. Are you sure we are at the right place? Is this a trap?" asked Shadow looking around with curiosity. He found he was acting just like a kit. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"The entrance is right in front of your face! Follow me!" Sonicwind commanded. He dove under a bush in front of them. Shadow watched him disappear without a trace. Reluctantly, he crawled after him.

"How far do I have to crawl?" asked Shadow with a whiny voice. Sonicwind looked at him from the other side of the bush. He couldn't believe what he was doing.

"Keep on crawling! You're almost there! Don't be such a kit!" Sonicwind hissed.

Shadow paused. He felt that he had to complain about everything. What happened to his mysterious, dark, brooding personality? He was a kit! Each time he saw a leaf, he wanted to jump on it. What was happening to him?

He finally crawled out of the bush to find him in a tunnel of bramble thickets. The two of them came out of the tunnel and into a large clearing. Shadow gazed around in amazement. Sonicwind couldn't help beaming at Shadow's amazement.

"Sonicwind! Sonicwind! You're back!" yelled a yellow tom with two tails. He ran up to Sonic wind and purred loudly. Shadow could guess who this was.

"Doublepaw! How's it going?" asked Sonicwind.

"I'm excited! I'm going to be a warrior like you tomorrow!" Doublepaw shouted excitedly. He calmed down and sat on the ground. He finally noticed Shadow with Sonicwind. "Who's that? Another kit?" asked Doublepaw.

"Yes… Wandering around in the forest… He was lost so I decided to take him here," Sonicwind explained.

"I beat him at a race on the way here," Shadow bragged.

Doublepaw's fur rose in alarm. "You beat Sonicwind at three moons?! How is that possible?!" he demanded.

"Don't ask me! I wasn't going easy on him! Although, he had to trip in front of me! I saved him by a whisker!" Sonicwind bragged back.

"Sonicwind… Deputies don't brag…," Doublepaw reminded him. Sonicwind huffed.

"Ugh! I hate being so formal! I want to be the great cat I once was before I got all of those responsibilities… All I'm doing now is attracting she-cats to me!" Sonicwind complained flicking his tail towards Roseheart and Acorntail. Doublepaw sighed.

"Sonicwind, I know things are hard for you at the moment… You will get your time to shine at some point. Besides, I thought you like being the deputy!" Doublepaw told his mentor.

"Yeah… I'm only keeping the position because I don't want Jetstorm to have it!" Sonicwind said glancing over at Jetstorm who was resting in the warrior's den.

Doublepaw nodded in understanding. He padded away. Shadow looked over at the glaring Sonicwind. "Jetstorm?" he asked.

Sonicwind looked over and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Don't worry about it. There will be nothing to worry about as long as I'm the deputy. Come on. You must meet our leader," Sonicwind explained to Shadow.

They walked over to the large tree in the clearing. They hopped up the tree and within the branches was a giant hole in the trunk that was big enough to be used as a room for one or two cats. A scarlet red tom was resting within the hole with a bed of feathers. His claws were sheathing and unsheathing themselves. Shadow knew that he was dreaming. He wondered what about. Sonicwind nudged the leader awake.

"Knucklestar… Wake up…," Sonicwind said gently.

Shadow almost laughed! Knucklestar?! How silly is that? Knuckles is the leader of the clan of cats! He kept his mouth shut. He'd be severely punished if he were to laugh. Knucklestar blinked open his eyes slowly.

"Sonicwind, I was dreaming! I was dreaming about ripping the pelts off of MoonClan once and for all!" Knucklestar shouted.

"I beg your forgiveness… I just have something important to report," Sonicwind said bowing to Knucklestar.

"Enough with the formalities! What is it already?!" bellowed Knucklestar.

Sonicwind swished his tail away from Shadow allowing Knucklestar to get a good look at him. He gasped in alarm.

"Well, a black kit of three moons… Red stripes as well as red eyes… I have to tell Cosmicleaf of this! Where did you find him?!" demanded Knucklestar urgently.

"He was lost in the woods. He didn't know where he came from or who he belonged to. I said he could come with me back to the camp. Has StarClan shown you or Cosmicleaf of this?" he asked.

"That is none of your concern. I shall tell this to the clan immediately. Thank you, Sonicwind. I shall take the kit with me for the time being. You go get yourself a piece of fresh-kill. You've earned it," Knucklestar told Sonicwind.

Sonicwind's eyes lit up and he sprang from the tree in a mighty leap. Shadow's eyes followed the gray-blue tom until he was out of sight. Knucklestar also jumped from the tree and waited for Shadow to follow. The two of them walked over to a large rock. Knucklestar jumped to the top of the giant rock and beckoned Shadow with a twitch of his tail.

"This is called the Skyrock. I always come here to make announcements to the clan. What is your name?" asked Knucklestar.

"I'm Shadow," Shadow replied.

Knucklestar turned to face the camp. He yelled to everyone in a mighty voice. " Everyone who is old enough to catch their own prey, gather here under the Skyrock!"

The clan cats gathered. The queens flicked their tails at their kits to tell them to stay in the nursery. There were many cats that looked familiar to him. All of them in one way or another. They all hushed to hear what Knucklestar had to say.

"A black cat has arrived at our camp with red stripes and red eyes by the name of Shadow. We are taking him into our clan as a kit due to his young age. We shall train him as an apprentice when ready. I hope that you will be kind to him and make him feel welcome," Knucklestar announced.

"Where did this kit come from?!" asked a brown she-cat.

"How do we know he's not a spy?!" demanded a pink she-cat.

"Is he dangerous in any way?" asked a purple tom.

"I shall answer all questions when I call this meeting to a close! Now, Shadow, from now on, you shall be known as Shadowkit. You will join the other kits in the nursery for now," Knucklestar told him.

Again, Shadow "kit" felt insulted. He was being treated like a baby. He was older than all of them combined! Now, he was confined in a young, childish body. He didn't know if he even wanted to join the clan. He was only staying because Sonicwind was a great runner just like his double in another universe. He continued to remain silent.

"Welcome to SunClan!" cheered a she-cat from the back.

When Shadowkit looked at her, he saw her golden fur and blue eyes filled with caring and compassion. She reminded him strongly of someone he knew. He shoved the thought away when Knucklestar started speaking again.

"I shall assign one apprentice and one warrior to show him around the camp. The warrior shall be Blazepelt and Goldenpaw. That's it! This meeting is over!" Knucklestar yelled. He ran off and jumped up into his tree. A few cats followed him asking questions. Although, they all asked from the ground rather than following the leader.

Shadowkit looked around. Who was Blazepelt? It was obviously Blaze the Cat, but which one was Blaze? What about Goldenpaw?

"Hey, Shadowkit!" said a voice from behind him. Shadowkit's fur flew up in an instant. His fur laid back down when he saw it was the golden she-cat he saw earlier.

"Hi. You're Goldenpaw?" asked Shadowkit.

"That's right! Over there is my mentor Blazepelt. You know, the purple she-cat over there talking with Silverflight. She told me to come and talk with you," Goldenpaw told him.

"You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago… I can't tell who…," Shadowkit told her.

"I do? Was she nice?" she asked.

"The nicest person I knew…," Shadowkit explained.

Blazepelt padded over with a friendly look on her face. She nodded in greeting to Shadowkit. Goldenpaw fluffed up her fur.

"Remember our deal?" she asked.

Blazepelt sighed. "Well, I don't want to be friendlier than I want to be! Can't I just be myself?" she asked her apprentice.

"Fine…"

"As you can probably tell, my name is Blazepelt. I am Goldenpaw's mentor. She wants me to make a deal with her about only one thing that I have problems with! If I am friendly, she doesn't question my every action. I'm failing to uphold my part of the deal…," Blazepelt explained.

"I can see that…," Shadowkit said almost with a laugh.

Goldenpaw sat up straight trying to hide her excitement. Shadowkit could see right through her it felt like. She flicked her tails to start the tour. They first started with the bramble tunnel.

"This is the bramble tunnel where we enter the camp. Our camp is almost impossible to spot. Did you see it when you first came?" asked Blazepelt.

Shadowkit shook his head. Blazepelt and Goldenpaw beamed. "We've worked hard to make that tunnel so that nobody can identify where our camp is! There's also a large barrier that we've made to also keep out intruders. It looks so real that even I sometimes forget that it's there!" Goldenpaw explained.

They moved on to a large den filled with nests. A few cats were resting within the nests. They were older than the apprentices. Goldenpaw poked her head in. "Crocscale?! I thought you were supposed to be training with Beepaw!"

Crocscale lifted his head. He growled when he saw that it was just an apprentice and lowered his head again. "I decided to take a day off…"

Blazepelt ruffled her fur a little. She approached Crocscale and took a deep breath. "WAKE UP! TRAINING STARTED HOURS AGO!"

Crocscale jumped from his bed in alarm. He raced from the den and went to the clearing to find Beepaw. Blazepelt, Goldenpaw, and Shadowkit laughed.

Shadowkit knew who they were as well. Crocscale is Vector and Beepaw is Charmy. It made sense. He drew his attention back to the warrior.

"This is the warrior's den. All the warriors sleep in this den," Blazepelt explained. She flicked her tails towards the other end of the clearing. "The apprentices sleep over on the opposite side of the camp. However, you won't be there for another three moons."

Shadowkit nodded in understanding. They continued along.

Goldenpaw bounded over into the middle of the camp. "This is the clearing where we share tongues! We usually do that at sunhigh!"

Shadowkit's fur ruffled up again. Sharing tongues?! What in the world was that?! The images that came to mind weren't the greatest… Goldenpaw figured out why he was making the odd face and explained.

"Sharing tongues means to talk or chat about what you want to talk about. Gossip, training, patrols, hunting, hedgehogs in other universes that can walk and talk who look surprisingly like us, and, well, anything!" Goldenpaw explained.

Shadowkit nodded finally getting the picture. It was just a time to hang out with other cats. They moved on.

"The clan leader sleeps in that giant tree in the middle of the clearing. It's a very special tree with a trunk large enough to have a hole in it that can actually work as a room. The apprentices like to play near the roots. Only Sonicwind is allowed to go into the tree unless if it's a special occasion. For example, you got to follow Sonicwind into the tree to see Knucklestar correct?" asked Blazepelt.

"Yes."

"That was because Sonicwind knew that a new addition to the clan is a special occasion. Don't go up there again. I've never gotten the honor of being in the tree. The tree means authority and peace which makes it special to us clan cats. You understand don't you?" Blazepelt asked.

"I understand clearly."

"Good."

They walked over to another den. Blazepelt flicked her tail towards it. "That's the nursery where the kits and queens stay. You shall be staying there for the next three moons," Blazepelt explained.

Shadowkit's ears drooped. He didn't want to be a kit and be stuck in a nursery! He wanted to get back to his own world! Eggman was behind it all he was sure. What could he do? What planet was he on? Did these cats know anything about where he came from or where they are? He didn't guess that any of them did. He kept his mouth shut.

"Something wrong Shadowkit? You look a little disappointed," Goldenpaw noticed.

Shadowkit sighed. Nothing gets by her apparently. "I'm just not wanting to be in the nursery with a bunch of kits!"

"Most of the kits are older than you and are close to becoming apprentices. If not older, then they are the same age," Blazepelt.

"The same age? Like who?" asked Shadowkit for some reason interested.

"There's one who shall still be there with you 'till the end of the third moon. You two are the same age and seem to have a lot in common. Your apprentice ceremonies will probably be at the same time. Her name is Emeraldkit," Blazepelt explained.

Goldenpaw wriggled into the conversation. "She's not much of a talker. Rather mysterious if I do say so myself. Almost as if she is thinking about her past and how terrible it was."

Recognition seized him again. He knew who that was. To see her in cat form would be kind of weird. Emeraldkit was based on the Drayan who's sort of like a fairy with emerald green wings as well as emerald green eyes. Her long black hair would be waving in the wind. A green shirt, black sash, black pants, black boots, and a green gem on the side of the boots was what she wore. However, how would she look as a cat? Why would she be only three moons old? There was only one way to find out about that.

"Emeraldkit!" summoned Blazepelt.

A small black kit about the same size as him walked out and sat on the ground. She began to groom her paw when she sat down. Shadowkit was expecting her to be something like this. An all black cat with emerald eyes.

"Emeraldkit, meet Shadowkit. He shall be joining you in the nursery," Blazepelt explained.

"How old is he?" asked Emeraldkit.

"Three moons."

"Predictable. So, what do you say Shadowkit…," she asked walking in a big circle around him looking him over from head to tail.

"I say that I am not at all surprised. I would prefer to be an apprentice. I feel older than three months!" Shadowkit explained.

"Months? What are months?" asked Goldenpaw.

"MOONS! I meant moons!" he corrected quickly trying not to stumble over his own tongue. It would take a while to get used to their vocabulary.

Emeraldkit smirked at him. She flicked her tail at him and walked back into the nursery. "Pleasure meeting you…"

Goldenpaw walked up in front of Shadowkit. "You see what I mean right?"

Shadowkit did not know what she meant. He thought that she was going to be the best roommate he could possibly get in this clan! He looked back over to Blazepelt. "Is there anything else to see?"

"Yes! There's the medicine cat den! Cosmicleaf and her apprentice, Creampaw, help to take care of our wounded cats. They use the herbs they've gathered from the forest to heal the members of this clan," Blazepelt told him. She pointed over to another den little ways away from the nursery. It was larger than the apprentice den and the nursery but smaller than the warrior's den. A white cat was shuffling around in the den with a bundle of herbs in her mouth. Blazepelt and Goldenpaw meowed a greeting. The white cat barely even looked up.

"That's Cosmicleaf. I think Creampaw is out collecting herbs. What'd she say they were?" asked Goldenpaw to her mentor.

"Poppy seeds, horsetail, and watermint," Blazepelt answered.

"Oh… I thought it was yarrow, marigold, and honey," Goldenpaw said sheepishly.

"I'd think that she'd come back with a thousand bee stings if she went to get honey."

Shadowkit figured he'd seen all that there was to see. Cosmicleaf is Cosmo and Creampaw is Cream. It was obvious. He was about to leave when he heard his stomach growl. Apparently, Blazepelt and Goldenpaw heard him, too.

"You sound a little hungry Shadowkit. Why don't we get you a piece of fresh-kill off of the fresh-kill pile! It's over there!" Goldenpaw said motioning over to the middle of the clearing. There was a large pile of dead animals. Shadowkit cringed. He walked over and sniffed it. Goldenpaw grabbed something from it and placed it on the ground in front of Shadowkit.

"There you go! It's a mouse!" Goldenpaw explained.

Shadowkit nudged it. His stomach lurched from how disgusting it looked. Goldenpaw looked over at him with a puzzled look.

"What's wrong Shadowkit? You see maggots on it or something?"she asked.

Shadowkit walked away from it slowly. He wanted to make sure that he'd survive the encounter. The dead animal itself wasn't terrible. It was the fact that he'd have to eat one at some point. Goldenpaw picked up the mouse and ran back up to him.

"Come on! It's delicious! I'll show you!" she said.

"N-No! I don't need to be shown! I really don't!" Shadowkit begged.

Goldenpaw had already begun to rip away the mouse. She purred at the taste. Once she had finished, she looked up to find Shadowkit gone. She looked around to find him on the other end of the clearing. His mouth was watering at the thought of a drumstick or some marinated ribs… A pizza or a burger… Although, he was stuck here to eat birds, rabbits, and mice! He swallowed hard. Goldenpaw walked up to him with another mouse. It looked a lot bigger than the one she ate. She dropped it on the ground and backed away from him.

"Let me get this straight… A mouse is delicious to cats. Am I correct?" Shadowkit asked.

"Of course!"

"Well…" Shadowkit looked down at the mouse. He crouched down and took a bite from it. It was a wonder that cats can even eat birds! They must be hard to eat because of the feathers. It was hard enough getting past the fur of the mouse. However, it was rich in flavor and actually didn't taste that bad. He would have preferred the marinated ribs, but he would survive with small rodents. He sits back up as he licked his lips.

"Um… How was it?" asked Goldenpaw.

"It actually isn't that bad. I like it," Shadowkit said. He continued to eat his mouse. Goldenpaw smiled.

As soon as Shadowkit finished off his mouse, he looked up to see the sun setting causing the west side of the sky to turn reds, pinks, and oranges. The east side of the sky was a dark purple. He turned to see Knucklestar hop on top of the Skyrock and summon the clan again. Everyone gathered around the Skyrock. Curiosity was filling the air and hard to not detect. Shadowkit found it cool that he could identify the feelings of other cats. He looked up at Knucklestar.

"Our new arrival has had a chance to look around I take it?" asked Knucklestar. He continued when Shadowkit, Blazepelt, and Goldenpaw nodded. "That is not the reason I've gathered the clan together. You see, Diamondwing has returned from her mission with news for us all." Knucklestar stepped back and let Diamondwing, a white she-cat take over the conversation.

"I went to MoonClan to spy on them and found useful info. Scourgestar is planning an attack! It will happen on the next half moon!" Diamondwing explained.

Meows of alarm rose from the clearing. Shadowkit ran over to Goldenpaw. "What does she mean an attack on the next half moon?!" he demanded.

"There's a half moon tonight. When the moon becomes a half moon again in the sky, there shall be a fight… Maybe they'll be able to reverse it!" Goldenpaw explained.

"A month away… That should be enough time to prepare right?"

Shadowkit didn't get to hear his answer. Diamondwing started talking again. "I shall take Camoflight back over the border to spy more. If we find something suspicious, we'll report it immediately!" she yelled. She bowed her head to Knucklestar. He whispered something into her ear and she nodded. Diamondwing and Camoflight padded to the warrior's den.

"I'm going to guess that he sent Camoflight and Diamondwing to their nests so they can rest before returning to work. It would make sense," Goldenpaw explained. She turned to look back at Knucklestar who was going to speak.

"SunClan, I promise that we'll be ready for the attack! We shall do more training with the apprentices, strengthen the barriers, go on more frequent patrols, practice the warriors, have drills, and we'll have Sonicwind try to teach the kits some moves if we really think that's necessary. Whatever we must do, we will not be beaten by MoonClan! Scourgestar will not take over the forest!" Knucklestar chanted. Meows of approval rang throughout the camp.

Shadowkit walked back into the nursery. It was a cozy place. He was the only one there he thought. He could hear a purr from the other end of the room. Eyes were burning into his fur. When he turned to look at who it was, he wasn't surprised.

"Shadowkit, I thought that you would be outside trying to hear what the leader is telling his deputy in the tree. That's what all the other kits are doing…," Emeraldkit said. She didn't seem at all concerned about the situation.

Shadowkit tried to remember how he used to talk to her. He'd talk normally to her, but who said that was how she liked most to be talked to. He decided to play the little game she was. "I don't know. They're not really the kind of cats I'd hang out with."

"You're right. I find them easily impressed by little things that don't matter. You don't seem to be as little as the rest of them even though you're younger. It's almost as if I know you. Are you a spy for MoonClan. I can easily tell," she replied.

"No! From what I've heard, never!" Shadowkit snapped.

"Never… Your eyes, though… They are the eyes of a MoonClan cat… They're a color that no normal cat would have. Like me, you have eyes that make no sense. Mine are too green and yours are red. You may not know where you come from, but I believe that you come from MoonClan," Emeraldkit explained.

"What about Knucklestar's eyes?! They're purple!" Shadowkit hissed.

"He gets that from being a descendant of a member of MoonClan. Do you understand me?" asked Emeraldkit.

"I suppose that makes sense. I don't know where I come from. MoonClan may be the best answer I can give. You come from there?" asked Shadowkit.

Emeraldkit gave him a smirk and turned her back. She curled up on the ground with her tail reaching her nose. Shadowkit bristled a little. "I shan't tell everyone your secret. You'll get kicked out if you tell. I can promise that you won't tell either."

"Me?! You can't control what I say!"

Emeraldkit lept to her feet with amazing speed and raced up to Shadowkit. She unsheathed her claws and hissed in his face. "Do you want to know what I'll do to you?! I could rip you apart with my bear claws! You'd best shut that big mouth of yours before you get in trouble. You tell on me, I'll tell on you. I got down, you go down with me! Do you hear what I'm saying?!" she demanded.

"Yes. I just have a question for you. Are you still with them?" he asked trying not to anger her anymore.

Emeraldkit swished her tail at him. "No! I'd never! I hate their ways! They're the ones who- Nevermind," Emeraldkit stopped. She rested her head on her paws. She looked blankly at the walls.

"What did they do?" asked Shadowkit.

"Nothing! Leave it alone! You'd better shut up before another cat comes in here and overhears what we're talking about! You are to say nothing. Forget this conversation…," Emeraldkit sighed. She looked as if she was being put under a lot of pressure. Shadowkit decided to drop the subject. She also looked as if she wanted to be alone. Shadowkit respected her wishes and walked as far away from her as he could.

 _Life's gonna be hard here… It was so much easier when I was the Ultimate Life Form… I only wish that I was still a hedgehog with all that power picking on Silver just because I could. I wonder what this Silver is like. Silverflight is his name, right? I'll talk to him tomorrow…_

Shadowkit closed his eyes. He let the darkness overtake him and slowly he began to lose consciousness. Before he could, he could have sworn he heard a voice. Sonic's voice yelling at him again. He sounded desperate. Was he really just imagining it?

 _Shadow! Shadow! Come back!_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A paw prodded Shadowkit in the side. He woke up groggily. Two green eyes looked at him. A tabby pelt gleamed in the morning light. He looked just a little younger than an apprentice. He wouldn't stop poking him until Shadowkit finally stood up. Shadowkit stretched and yawned.

"Well, he's finally awake! I thought that he'd sleep for a moon! He sleeps like a hedgehog!" the tabby kit exclaimed.

Shadowkit again felt insulted. He _**was**_ a hedgehog! The fact that they make hedgehogs seem like lazy, insignificant mammals made him mad. They were comparing him to what he actually was in the form of an insult! The tabby continued before Shadowkit could make a retort.

"My name is Dawnkit! What's your name? Well, DUH! It's Shadowkit. Everyone knows who you are! Welcome! Over there is Lightkit the positive, Swiftkit the mopey, and Emeraldkit the odd! I don't know why she's odd… She's mysterious! Do you two come from the same place? Where's that? How much do you know about the outside world?" The tabby tom kept going on and on. He never stopped. Emeraldkit covered her ears out of annoyance, Lightkit smiled sheepishly, and Swiftkit thought he was going to explode. Swiftkit jumped to his paws.

"Would you shut your big mouth?!" Swiftkit demanded.

"What?! I was just asking a few questions!" Dawnkit snapped. Lightkit stepped in front of Dawnkit.

"You'll have to excuse him. He's got talking issues…," she said casting him a stern look. Dawnkit backed away. "Anyway, I'm glad you're able to be a part of this clan! It'll be great to have a new member!"

"She's right! It's good to have you here!" replied a new voice. A cream colored she-cat padded in from outside. She stretched and pulled Dawnkit closer to her. She began to lick his fur to groom it. Dawnkit groaned.

"Mom… I can groom myself…," Dawnkit muttered.

"You neglect the responsibility," the she-cat told him.

Shadowkit figured that was Vanilla. He looked down at his fur. It didn't look as nice as it did the day before… Would he have to lick it to groom it? He gave his chest fur a lick. He was surprised at how rough his tongue was. His tongue felt like sandpaper almost. He continued licking. It was odd, but it worked. Nobody questioned his actions.

"Vanillaflower, didn't you say that Shadowkit was needed by Cosmicleaf?" asked Lightkit.

Vanillaflower nodded to her. She looked over to Shadowkit. "You can make it there yourself correct?"

"I know where it is. Blazepelt and Goldenpaw showed me yesterday. I will be fine," Shadowkit explained.

"Very well. I shall see you later," Vanillaflower said.

"Bye, Shadowkit!" Lightkit and Dawnkit told him in sync.

Before leaving, Shadowkit looked over at Emeraldkit. She was looking at him. Her eyes specifically said: "Don't tell anyone." He nodded to her. She curled back up with her tails to her nose to take a nap. Swiftkit rolled his eyes at her.

"You know, as a warrior, you don't just take a nap whenever you feel like it," he hissed at her. Her ear twitched. Shadow glared at him.

"Don't talk to her like that. There are many things you don't know about her," Shadowkit replied.

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Why she keeps her claws sharp," Shadowkit answered. He left without another word.

Swiftkit looked back at Emeraldkit. He looked at her claws as they sheathed and unsheathed themselves. A purr rose from her throat. She was imagining herself ripping her enemies apart. Swiftkit moved away from her.

Shadowkit looked around the camp as he approached Cosmicleaf's medicine den. He saw Diamondwing slip out of the camp unnoticed by any cat other than himself. Camoflight looked around the camp. He turned and began to walk to the bramble tunnel. He disappeared in plain sight when he was halfway there. Shadowkit figured he was Espio. Sonicwind was basking on the rock next to Doublepaw who was running around with excitement. Shadowkit remembered that his warrior ceremony was today. He wondered what happened in a warrior ceremony. Did anything incredible happen? Shadowkit figured out that when you become an apprentice, you get 'paw at the end of your name. So, when you become a warrior, your name gets changed again, but you do not know what name you get. He finally reached the medicine cat den.

"Cosmicleaf? You said you wanted me?" asked Shadowkit looking into the den. He didn't see anyone anywhere. He walked further in. "Hello? Is anybody there? I heard- Ow!"

A forceful paw came down on his back it knocked him over. A white blur flew past him and aimed another shot at him. Shadowkit quickly rolled to dodge. He jumped to his feet and raced after the cat. He hissed and fluffed up his fur. He grabbed onto the tail of the white feline and bit down as hard as he could. His mouth grew salty as he bit down harder from the blood in his mouth. The cat let out a meow of surprise. The cat threw him off and shoved him to the ground. Shadowkit lay there panting awaiting his fate. The white cat raised its paw but sheathed its claws. The mysterious being allowed Shadowkit to stand up.

"Wha-?!" demanded Shadowkit.

"I'm sorry to test you. I had to make sure. Let me help you with that scratch I gave you. I'm sorry," a female voice said. She sounded familiar. Shadowkit looked up to see Cosmicleaf's calm and collected eyes. She nosed through some herbs until she found the right ones. Shadowkit watched her work still alarmed that it was her.

"You were testing me by attacking me?! You're the medicine-"

"Shush! Keep it down… If anyone hears about this…, I'll be in trouble. Come on! I can help my tail wound later! This is much too important!" she told him ushering him out of the camp. Shadowkit tried once or twice to object. He didn't succeed in any of those attempts. Once they were far from camp, Cosmicleaf turned back to him.

"Why are you doing all of this?! What do I have to do with anything?!" Shadowkit demanded.

"You know more than the average kit. You know a lot about the arts of battle, speech, cleverness, and agility. Explains how you were able to beat Sonicwind so easily. Now, I must talk to you! I got a message from StarClan about you! They told me that a kit of night and day shall appear with the power from beyond StarClan in his paws. You are of three moons and already know more than the average kit! You've already proven yourself faster than the deputy! You are the cat they were talking about! Pelt of the night in the clan of day… It must be you!" Cosmicleaf explained.

"I'm part of a prophecy?" asked Shadowkit in disbelief.

Cosmicleaf looked around again. She scented cats in the air. Shadowkit could scent the cats as well, but he wasn't yet able to identify their scents. Cosmicleaf huffed. "Border patrol! Can't we go anywhere without being interrupted? Hm… Crocscale, Beepaw, and Acorntail by the looks of it… Quick! Into the wild garlic!" hissed Cosmicleaf in a whisper. She shoved him into a patch of wild garlic not far from there. It had a very strong smell and Shadowkit knew it would take ages to get the strong scent out of his fur. The patrol then came by.

"I'm going to find the biggest, fattest piece of prey in the whole forest! Look at that! A squirrel! Up in the tree!" Beepaw exclaimed pointing up the tree that they were hiding next to. So far, nobody noticed them.

"Beepaw, don't talk so loud! You'll scare the squirrel!" Crocscale scolded.

The squirrel looked up and bounded away in terror. The only thing that remained was the nut that it was nibbling on. Acorntail shook her head.

"Yeah, Crocscale… There goes all the prey in SunClan territory. It probably fled to MoonClan's borders! Come on, let's get this done and head back to camp…," Acorntail sighed.

The patrol padded away with Beepaw chattering on as usual. Cosmicleaf stood back up. Shadowkit huffed with annoyance at her. He tried to lick the scent off, but the scent only latched onto his tongue and tasted revolting. Shadowkit hissed.

"Sorry, it was important that we didn't get discovered. Yesterday, I went to the MoonCliff. The stones in the cliff allow us to communicate with StarClan, our warrior ancestors who live in Silverpelt in the night sky. They watch over us and send us warnings about the future. I'm the medicine cat. I get the messages from StarClan and deliver them to the clan cats. Yes, I do heal them as well. They told me that you would come. That's why this is such a big deal. You are important for some reason. I just… don't know how yet," Cosmicleaf explained.

"So, you attacked me to test to see if I was the cat that a bunch of dead cats told you about?"

"Well… I suppose that's one way to put it," Cosmicleaf said awkwardly.

Shadowkit huffed. He so that's what all of this "StarClan" stuff was about. He didn't care a lick about it! He was doing fine without StarClan! He frowned. "Sorry, I'm not buying it. All of this just to be told about something I don't believe in," Shadowkit stated. He raced through the trees leaving a stunned Cosmicleaf behind.

The voices he had been hearing swirled around him. This time, it wasn't Sonic. It was a lot of different voices. All of them sounded familiar. Shadowkit stopped. He sniffed the air. Where was he? Nobody told him about a large lake in the forest. Shadowkit felt that the voices were coming from it. He looked into the lake only to see his own reflection. He didn't know completely what he looked like until now. He saw a tiny black kit with tiny red stripes who was too small to be a part of anything. He sighed and turned away.

 _Shadow… Come with me…_

The voice surprised him. He hadn't been able to figure out what the voices were saying until now. Were they calling him? He walked back to the lake.

 _You see, little kit, I see greatness… Power… Glory! You shall rule the forest one day I'm sure… You will be the greatest cat of all… Every cat will bow to you…_

Shadowkit had no idea what was going on. All of that sounded familiar in a way. It was something he wanted. He wanted it more than ever. He approached the lake.

 _Bow your head low… ALL HAIL SHADOW!_

Shadowkit smirked. When he looked into the lake. He didn't see the puny kit. He saw Shadowstar. He saw a large, muscular, good-looking cat with blood red eyes that gleamed with confidence. All of the cats in the forest were behind him.

 _Just touch the water… Touch us…_

Cosmicleaf bolted into the clearing. She bowled over Shadowkit and hissed into the lake. "Shadowkit is not yours to take! StarClan sent him to us! No matter what happens, I will protect him from your evil grasp!"

The reflection of Shadowstar faded. A black ghostly cat stood in its place. He smirked at Cosmicleaf.

 _You say you can protect him… I've seen his heart. I've seen his desires. That cat shall be joining the ranks of The Valley of Lost Echoes! Well, you win this time. I shall be back. I'm not going to back down so easily!_

The reflection of the dark cat vanished in a large ripple in the lake. Shadowkit stood to his feet weakly. He looked into Cosmicleaf's eyes. They were filled with anger, concern, and disappointment.

"What do you think you're doing?! You could've been lost! You shouldn't have come this far into the forest! Only medicine cats are allowed to come beyond this point! This is the Lake of the Lost. Too many cats have roamed into this forest and never returned because of this lake! You almost joined them! What do you have to say for yourself?!" she scolded.

His answer came out as a squeak. "I was not in the best mood. They showed me what I've been wanting and I couldn't help it!"

Cosmicleaf's stern gaze softened and she nudged him back to his feet. "We may get tempted, but we still can't let them take anyone. We need our full strength for handling MoonClan. Nothing can possibly stop us if StarClan sent you to help us."

Shadowkit got it. So, back towards the camp he trotted. Voices surrounded him again. Not from the lake. It felt as if they were coming to him from the sky. They rode the winds down to the land just to speak to him. Cosmicleaf seemed to sense the voices as well. She stopped.

"You feel something. I can sense it as well. What are they saying?" she asked him.

Shadowkit listened closer. The voices were hard to make out, but he was able to tell what they were saying. "They are saying over and over: "Come to the MoonCliff. Your destiny lies there where the stars and the land become one, Chosen One." That's what they're saying," Shadowkit explained.

"Well… Come on! Back the other way! We must get back to the camp before Doublepaw's warrior ceremony. He should be having it towards the end of the day. If you're going to share tongues with StarClan, we must be sure we make it back. If we don't, the others in our clan will get suspicious. Not even I can take kits around for a stroll after dark and get away with it. Come on!" she told him. They turned around and ran back into the forbidden part of the forest. They didn't go by the Lake of the Lost because the dirt path split in two. They ran down the other path which led to a rocky gorge. The gorge contained high cliffs of solid rock making it easy for an avalanche to occur if they weren't careful. The gorge ended in a dead end. A small pool of water was at the end and purple glowing gems were on the side of the cliff. Cosmicleaf nudged Shadowkit closer to the small pool of water.

"The voices are clearer here. I can hear them all talking to me. What could they possibly want?" asked Shadowkit.

Cosmicleaf shook her head sincerely. "I don't know what StarClan has in mind for you. All that I know is that it must be important. This is the first time I've ever taken a kit anywhere near the MoonCliff."

Shadowkit sighed. He was going to have to go in blindly. He slowly approached the water. He slowly placed his paws into the clear, shallow water. He waded over to one of the glowing gems. They reminded him of the chaos emeralds. He leaned in closer to the point where his nose was up against the cold, hard stone. He felt the world begin to fade as he entered what felt like a dream.

"Shadow the Hedgehog I presume?" asked a voice that seemed to surround him completely. He couldn't tell yet where the voice was coming from. The voice sounded female.

"I was Shadow the Hedgehog. What's so important that you had to send me to this place?" asked Shadowkit narrowing his eyes as he looked around. The place seemed more saturated than normal. It was as if the entire world was painted over with a bunch of brightly colored paints that still made the world look real. The entire world surrounding him was a forest. He could hear prey shuffling around in the undergrowth. He was half tempted to try and catch something, but he stayed where he was to not be rude.

"I'm Galaxyfern. I was the former medicine cat of SunClan. With the former leader, Earthstar. We need to talk to you." Another white she-cat padded out of the undergrowth. She had a pelt that gleamed with stars and she didn't appear to have any wounds. It was clear to him. She was a heavenly StarClan warrior.

"What is it that you wish of me?" asked Shadow.

"Have you realized that your back to hedgehog form?" asked Earthstar with a purr. She had silver fur and green eyes that reflected the plants of the clearing rather than Shadow. Shadow thought that it almost made her look like she wasn't paying much attention.

"You haven't noticed that you're standing on your back legs? I thought that we'd barely be able to get your attention because you'd be so happy!" exclaimed Galaxyfern.

Shadow looked at himself. He was back to normal. He was glad, but he wasn't really that excited. Shadow looked back at the cats and shrugged. Their ears twitched with surprise. Shadow explained. "I may have my form back, but the only reason I do is because this is all a dream. I still think of myself like this. If I dream, my brain thinks me up like this which is why you can't change my form in a dream."

"You're right. We can visit, but we can't change the reality unless if we really must. We stay here as we watch over you and act when needed. The reason you're here is still not known to us. You have a power from beyond StarClan. You come from the planet of Mobius. We know everything about you. Your world rests beyond the borders of StarClan, but we can still watch to see what happens. We then heard of a coming danger that required the power and knowledge of a cat who wasn't always a cat. We allowed you to keep your memory, but you are young so that you can be more curious about the world and learn about the ways of the warrior cats. When you die on Earth shall be when you return to your own world. That's just about all we know right there," Earthstar explained.

"So when I die, I go back to my old life as Shadow the Hedgehog. I think I've got that. Even so, did you drag me here just to tell me that?" asked Shadow.

"No. We came here to warn you that the mission of adapting to clan life isn't easy. The fire that burns in your soul will be what keeps you going. You were sent to this world to save it. However, if your power gets into the wrong paws, disaster may strike," Galaxyfern replied.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I figured that much. Why send me, though? Why not someone else? Wouldn't having another Sonicwind be easier?"

"The clans would figure out that they are the same cat. The reason we chose you is because your look-alike is already dead. Shadowstrike!" yelled Earthstar.

A black tom with red eyes and thick red stripes padded out towards them. Shadow thought that he was rather handsome. He was, at least, based on some cat who looked good. Shadowstrike dipped his head loyally to Earthstar.

"Greetings, Earthstar. How may I serve you?" he asked. His voice was smooth and deep. Much deeper than Shadow's voice as a kit.

"Shadowstrike, meet your look-alike from a different world. He's gonna take your place on the Earth as a living being with your body," Earthstar explained.

Shadowstrike's ears twitched with disbelief. He looked at Shadow with narrowed eyes. "He's a hedgehog. Oh yeah, I've seen him before. His world is far across the border of our dimensions. We can look into it, but we can't really look into it. He's that dark hedgehog with insecurities about dead Twolegs. Hmph! At least, I'm dead! Go on! Make a fool out of me!" Shadowstrike hissed turning his back.

"Hey! Be nice. He's the one from the prophecy!" Galaxyfern hissed in return.

"Whatever," Shadowstrike commented. He ran off to hunt.

Shadow watched him run off. He turned back to Galaxyfern and Earthstar. "Nice guy."

"Yeah… He's not exactly a very happy cat anymore. He used to be. Although, when he saw that one of his childhood friends wasn't in StarClan he freaked out and is now no longer in a very good mood," Galaxyfern explained.

 _Childhood friend? Could he possibly mean- No. She's still alive. Or… Or was she always…?_

"Yes… We reincarnated her. She isn't in StarClan. She's a cat who's still alive," Earthstar said.

"Goldenpaw."

"Huh?" the both asked.

"She's been reincarnated into cat reminds me of a friend I had a long time ago. Her name was Maria. Maria is now dead. However, in this dimension, she _**could**_ be reincarnated again by you," Shadow explained.

"Perceptive hedgehog isn't he? Well, he'll need that for the future. I'm afraid that you must go now if you wish to return to the camp in time for Doublepaw's warrior ceremony. Be sure to come back with the medicine cats every half-moon. We will need to speak to you more," Galaxyfern told him.

Shadow nods. He then remembers something. "By the way, MoonClan is planning to attack SunClan next half-moon."

"We know. We've known of their plan for a while. We've just been waiting for you to come and we wanted to test the abilities of your spies. Speaking of which, I wouldn't recommend trusting every cat in your clan," Earthstar said. Her face clouded at the thought.

"What do you mean? Emeraldkit? I know she comes from MoonClan."

"She bears no threat to the clan at this time. We really shouldn't tell you who is. If we tell you, you won't tell will you?" asked Galaxyfern with a hard and serious expression.

"Sure. Why would I want it to be a secret?"

"If you tell anyone, they'll assume you're lying and you won't be trusted. If your clan mates don't trust you, you won't be able to do anything heroic or save anything. Understood?"

Shadow nods. He leans in as Earthstar takes a deep breath.

"It's… Jetstorm," she said.

Shadow had already figured he was trouble. If there was someone who would cause trouble, it would be Jet the Hawk. He nods and fades from the realm of StarClan.

"Do you really think that it was a good idea to lie to him about who the danger is?" asked Galaxyfern.

"Nobody can know. Not even him. He wouldn't believe me if I told him," Earthstar sighed.

Shadowkit woke up still standing in the puddle. Cosmicleaf was looking at him contently. She stood up. "Did you figure out any answers?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Let's go back to our camp. Before the ceremony starts."

The two cats ran through the trees and finally made it to the tunnel. He dove under the bush and ran out to the clearing. They made it before the ceremony started. Knucklestar was jumping up on top of the Skyrock. He yowled the announcement for everyone to gather below the Skyrock. Doublepaw was with Sonicwind and trying not to wriggle with excitement.

"I have a great announcement to make! Doublepaw has completed his training with Sonicwind!"

Meows of excitement rang throughout the clearing. Knucklestar waited for them to quiet down before continuing.

"Doublepaw, please come to the Skyrock." Knucklestar waited for Doublepaw to scramble onto the Skyrock in front of Knucklestar. Shadowkit paid close attention. "I, Knucklestar, leader of SunClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Doublepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Doublepaw looked at him boldly. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Doublepaw, from this moment on you, will be known as Doubletail. StarClan honors your courage and intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SunClan." Knucklestar rested his muzzle on Doubletail's head and Doubletail respectfully licked his shoulder. All of the cats in the clearing began to chant his name over and over.

"Doubletail! Doubletail! Doubletail!"

Doubletail smiled as he hopped down from the Skyrock. The sun began to go down and he ran outside of the camp and Shadowkit knew he was sitting outside the camp. He was guarding the tunnel. Goldenpaw bounded over to him.

"Hi, Shadowkit!" she said.

"Hi. What's he doing?" asked Shadowkit looking over at the tunnel.

"It's a tradition for all new warriors to do a silent vigil and guard the camp for the rest of the night. Doubletail will be out there until the sun rises. I wonder when the kits will become apprentices. Cheesepaw, Beepaw, and I will get bored without Doubletail…," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Don't worry. You and Doubletail are still friends I'm sure. He just has new responsibilities. Every cat has to get older and become a warrior. Leave the life of being an apprentice behind. Moving up in life is a good thing," Shadowkit explained.

"You sound like my mentor Blazepelt. You're right! Besides, you'll be moving into the apprentice den in three moons!" Goldenpaw said cheering up.

"What if you become a warrior by then?" asked Shadowkit.

"I'll just fail all of my assessments until you become an apprentice then!" Goldenpaw answered simply.

"Please, if you care at all about your reputation, don't do it!" Shadowkit told her.

"Who cares about reputations?"

"Okay, if you care anything about me and my health, you won't do it!" he corrected. He knew that would be more meaningful.

"Okay! If it'll make you happy, I'll pass them all! I'll be the best warrior with the best reputation ever!" Goldenpaw said making a callback on what he had said a few seconds ago.

"Good."

Vanillaflower padded back out of the nursery and looked around. She spotted Shadowkit and pelted over to him. "What were you thinking to stay out of camp _**all day**_?!" she demanded with a scolding hiss.

Shadowkit was about to answer when Cosmicleaf walked over. "I was showing him some herbs in our territory. You know, so he knows what plants are dangerous and which aren't. I'm sure you can understand, right?"

Vanillaflower still didn't look convinced. "All day just to show him herbs?!"

Cosmicleaf smiled. "Okay, the next time I go out, I won't stop Shadowkit from eating some… death berries," Cosmicleaf stated. She paused in mid-sentence for dramatic effect. Vanillaflower flattened her fur and shook her head. Cosmicleaf nudged Shadowkit back towards Vanillaflower.

"You'd best go with her before she gets mad again," Cosmicleaf told him.

"Bye, Shadowkit!" Goldenpaw shouted with a wave of her tail.

Shadowkit scurried back into the nursery. He began to groom his fur before he was forced to go to sleep. He couldn't help but notice Emeraldkit's gaze upon him again. Her eyes burned into his skin and he couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about. What she was wanting of him? Probably to continue to say nothing. If that was what she wanted, wish granted.

 _Day two is over. On to day three. Then to day four. Then to day five. Then to day six. On and on and on until the day I die. Will things ever get better? It makes me wonder. StarClan, help me sleep for the night may only be swallowed up in the yellings of the beings I once knew. Ease the voice of Sonic that follows me everywhere. Give me a night of silence._

For once, the voice didn't disturb him. The voices didn't surround him. He felt completely normal. He felt that he really belonged there for the first time. For the first time since he had gotten there, he didn't have a nightmare.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Eventually, Shadowkit got fairly used to clan life even if he was confined to the camp all the time. He got to talk with the apprentices and sometimes he'd start competing with Sonicwind because Sonicwind now had time to. Ever since Doublepaw because Doubletail, Sonicwind has been jumping on every chance he got to go on patrols because he was so bored. At sunhigh, he would avoid the other cats and give excuses for why he couldn't share tongues with anyone. Shadowkit thought it was weird for him to do so. He then remembered something that Sonicwind said when he first came to the camp.

"I want to be the great cat I once was before I got all of those responsibilities… All I'm doing now is attracting she-cats to me!"

Shadowkit occasionally saw Sonicwind glance at either Roseheart or Acorntail with a scared look on his face. If those two she-cats were Sally and Amy, then no wonder he didn't want to share tongues with anyone.

Days go by, weeks even and Shadowkit keeps a close eye on the moons. The moon grew, then disappeared, then came back again. It was getting closer to MoonClan's attack. Goldenpaw told him that the two clans used to come together for a gathering, like a status report, every full moon. Although, ever since Scourgestar became the leader, the gatherings stopped. The MoonClan cats no longer worshipped StarClan. They supported The Valley of Lost Echoes. He would wonder if the cats in that clan were possessed or something. The moon grew and grew. It grew into a half-moon really fast. The day of the battle was upon them. Every cat was running around in terror. Nobody rejected extra training. Shadowkit found himself in some training sessions with Sonicwind (even though he didn't think he needed them). Night fell upon them.

"Cats of SunClan, tonight we shall be facing our enemies in battle! You have been preparing for this for a moon, so hopefully, we'll be trained enough to surprise our foes and beat them! Now, we shall guard the tunnel with our lives. Vanillaflower, guard the kits! Wavefeather, I know that you're one of the queens, but you are a skilled fighter. You will help us in combat. If we are to defeat Scourgestar, Metalclaw, Eggstripe, and Darkwind, we must be at the top of our game," Knucklestar announced.

Shadow kit tried to figure out who they'd be in his world. Scourgestar would be Scourge. Metalclaw would be Metal Sonic. Eggstripe would be Eggman. What about Darkwind? Who was Darkwind? Who else would be in the clan that he'd recognize?

Vanillaflower wrapped her tail around him and began to drag him back to the nursery. Shadowkit hissed a protest. "Don't take me! I wanna fight! I WANT TO FIGHT! RIGHT NOW!" Shadowkit yelled.

"You'll be able to fight when you're a warrior," she snapped at him.

She kept them all close to her in the den. Emeraldkit was looking at Shadowkit again with those eyes. Shadowkit knew she was making a plan. She didn't tell him this, but he knew that she had a score to settle with MoonClan. She flicked her ears towards the opening to indicate that she knew what their escape plan was.

"Vanillaflower, I think I saw Swiftkit try to escape!" Emeraldkit squeaked pointing out into the clearing among the cats who were filing out of the camp. Shadowkit almost couldn't take seeing Goldenpaw's face. She was terrified. Goldenpaw always hated fighting. It made her nervous. If she liked fighting, she wouldn't have died on the ARK in his original world.

Vanillaflower's ears pricked as she looked around frantically. Swiftkit was gone! She saw him pelting towards the group of cats leaving. Vanillaflower gasped in horror and ran after him in a sprint. Emeraldkit signalled to Shadowkit.

"Let's go!" he yelled.

A cat stood in their way. He appeared from nowhere. Camoflight. "What are two young kits of four moons doing outside of the nursery? Isn't Vanillaflower watching you?"

"Uh…," Emeraldkit started. She looked to Shadowkit and whispered something into his ear. Shadowkit nodded.

"We need to find Cosmicleaf!" he blurted.

"Why do you need the medicine cat?" asked Camoflight not buying any of it.

Shadowkit thought fast. "Lightkit stepped on a large thorn and now there's blood all over the place! We need help! Get Cosmicleaf!" Shadowkit hissed.

Camoflight still wasn't convinced. "I want to see this for myself."

"Great! What now?!" demanded Emeraldkit.

"Mer-ow-ow-ow!" cried Lightkit. She was limping out of the den with a thorn in her paw. It wasn't that bad, but it was a good enough excuse. Camoflight was trying to yank out the thorn which was causing her to cry.

It was right then that Vanillaflower returned!

"What are you doing to that kit! You shouldn't be removing it Camoflight! THIS NEEDS A MEDICINE CAT!" she hissed through Swiftkit's fur.

Camoflight lets go of the thorn and stood up. A low growl came from his throat. Shadowkit heard him say, 'Over-protective queens…' under his breath. Shadowkit had to laugh. Cosmicleaf might actually be the only cat who'd let them out of the camp at all.

A few seconds later, Camoflight brought in Cosmicleaf. Cosmicleaf hastily treated the thorn and was able to see that Shadowkit wanted to speak with her. She quickly went over to him. "What?"

"Come with me," Shadowkit told her. They went behind the nursery to begin to talk.

"What?!" demanded Cosmicleaf.

"We need to help fight. It's important. I can't just stay here when I'm actually a great fighter in my world. I could help," Shadowkit explained.

Cosmicleaf thought. She then looked back to Shadowkit with a firm stare. "No. Just because you were a great fighter in your world, doesn't mean that you are in this one! Now, I must get back to work."

Shadowkit stood up straighter. He drew his lip back yet there was no true anger within his signs of hostility. "I beat you when you tested me! I defeated Sonicwind in a battle of speed! I even outwitted Camoflight just to bring you here! I even have the entire StarClan behind me! Are they sending a sign for me not to? Are they flinging clouds over the moon? No! I'm coming with you! I'm going to fight!"

Cosmicleaf realized with surprise that he was right. There were no clouds, StarClan seemed to be behind him, he knew more than any kit in history, he was reincarnated from a powerful and loyal cat to ThunderClan, and he has shown that he is already capable of being an apprentice even though he's two moons early. Emeraldkit with him, though…? The odds aren't going to support that.

"Fine. You can come. Emeraldkit will have to stay. She doesn't know what you know. You have the powers from beyond StarClan. She's a kit of four moons. Sorry, Shadowkit," Cosmicleaf explained to him.

"No! It's fine… I had a bone to pick with them. However, that can wait. My main goal was to, at least, get Shadowkit into the battle. He is one of my closest friends, after all. He should be the one to fight," Emeraldkit said backing off. She began to dash away into the den.

"Emeraldkit, thanks," Shadowkit told her as she left. To indicate that she heard, she smiled and flicked her tail with acknowledgement.

"Come with me! Hurry!" Cosmicleaf beckoned.

Shadowkit hid behind her as they made their way to the camp entrance. She quickly explained the plan to him. "I'm going to pretend to find you following me. I'll send you back to the nursery. When I send you off, go to the little space behind the nursery where we were before. Once everyone has left the camp, climb through the barrier around the camp and climb up a tree. The clan will go by the tree and you jump down once the cats have gone by. I'll be at the end so I can meet up with you. Understand?"

Shadowkit nodded his head. They continued and Cosmicleaf hurried to catch up with her clan. "Sorry, I'm late! I just had to help Vanillaflower!"

"Well, it sure took you long enough! Wait… There's another cat with you. It's the scent of Shadowkit!" Knucklestar hissed.

Cosmicleaf turned in false surprise to Shadowkit. He slapped a look of curiosity on his face as if he wanted to know where they were going. Cosmicleaf smiled warmly at him. "Sorry, Shadowkit. You must return to the nursery. We shall be back shortly! I can play with you then!"

 _Faker._

Shadowkit turned reluctantly and crawled behind the nursery. Nobody saw him do so. He could hear Vanillaflower scolding Swiftkit for running off. Shadowkit watched the clan cats talk a little longer about their strategy before finally leaving. Shadowkit scrambled through the barrier. He made his way up the nearest tree and waited. Waited… Waited… Waited…

Shadowkit sat in the tree far longer than he expected to sit. Right as his paws started going numb, he heard paw steps. They were the paw steps of a large group of cats. Shadowkit sat up and got ready to jump when he discovered that the scent was different. He didn't recognize this scent. The scent was sharp and revolting. It sort of reminded Shadow of Sonic's socks after an entire day of running! Only these socks had a fresh, pure scent to it as well that filled up Shadowkit's fur with fear. This was not the warm SunClan scent that he had gotten used to.

A green tom padded out in front of the tree leading a few warriors behind him. Some of the cats even looked only like half-trained apprentices. Was the leader naming them as warriors before their training was over? Shadowkit listened as they approached under the tree.

"Scourgestar, this should be the camp. Should we go over the plans one more time to see if these rookies understand what they're supposed to do?" asked a dark blue tom. He sounded strangely like a robot and glared at the young warriors.

"Very well, Metalclaw. Now, make sure not to forget. We are here because the other clan cats are out fighting the rest of the clan being led by Darkwind. You are the lucky ones who were chosen to help me raid the camp and take over the forest tonight! Rookies, you are to attack the nursery! Metalclaw, you will help me attack the warriors. Just remember, if the rest of the SunClan cats return, Knucklestar is mine!" Scourgestar explained.

Shadowkit was barely able to stop himself from gasping at the horrible news. He wasn't going to fight the patrol that was distracting everyone. He was going to attack the patrol that was the real threat. He scurried away through the trees trying not to make a sound. One of the warriors thought he had heard something in the trees causing Shadowkit to abruptly stop. He didn't dare breathe. Even the slightest movement could give away his position. When Scourgestar looked in his direction, his heart skipped a beat.

"Are you sure you heard something? What was it? A squirrel?!" he demanded.

"It had a strong SunClan scent on it!" the warrior protested.

Scourgestar laughed. Then his face turned stern. "You mouse-brain! We're about to attack and you're obsessing over squirrels!" He slashed at the cat with a growl. The warrior who was supposed to be an apprentice cried out in surprise as Scourgestar's claws raked across his face. The impact left him on the ground unconscious. Shadowkit realized just how powerful and scary Scourgestar was. If anyone were to get in his way, he would show them no mercy. He began to inch down the branch he was on. Thankfully, he didn't get caught again. Even though he thought he saw a few ears twitch his way, he knew that nobody would get in the way after Scourgestar's demonstration. He had to warn the camp. If he didn't, there might not be a camp to return to in the future.

He ran through the branches as fast as he could. The patrol of enemy cats didn't catch him eavesdropping on their conversation. He didn't know how many warriors were still at the camp. There was Vanillaflower he knew, but who else would be there to help guard the camp? Shadowkit dashed through the barrier. And wailed a warning call. A few cats hurried over to him.

"Shadowkit?! What were you doing out there?" asked Crocscale.

"Shadowkit, you should've been in the nursery! You scared me half to death!" Vanillaflower growled.

"I have something really important to say! Listen up!" Shadowkit yelled. Everyone grew quiet. Shadowkit noticed that there were more cats in the patrol than in the camp. There was Crocscale, Beepaw, Acorntail, Vanillaflower, and Jetstorm. He wasn't sure how they were supposed to win against Scourgestar if there weren't many cats to go against him. "There's a MoonClan patrol coming this way. They are going to kill us all and take all of the kits. They think that they can train them to battle us. Also, Scourgestar and Metalclaw is among them."

Meows of alarm came from the few cats in the camp. Emeraldkit dashed out of the nursery and bounded over to Shadowkit. "What happened?! Why are you back so soon?"

"MoonClan is coming!" he hissed to her.

A look of alarm crossed over her face. It then hardened when she understood the situation. Her claws unsheathed themselves. "I'm willing to fight them. Even if I die, I'll still fight."

Shadowkit nodded to her. She was showing extreme loyalty for a kit who came from the clan she was going to fight.

"Emeraldkit, I want you to go with Crocscale and Acorntail to help defend the nursery with Vanillaflower! Jetstorm, Beepaw, and I will defend the entrance! Remember, don't kill anyone unless if you really have to! MoonClan may be bad, but we can't just lower ourselves down to their level! Everyone, we will be having a surprise attack! Be sure to hide and don't let anyone know we're here or in the camp. They'll be looking for the kits so hide near there if the nursery is what you're guarding. If you have the entrance, you will join me in that large bush near the barrier. Understood?!" demanded Shadowkit.

"Why is he making the orders?" asked Acorntail.

"You're just gonna have to trust me!" Shadowkit hissed.

Emeraldkit looked at him long and hard. She dashed towards the nursery and hid out of sight as if to show that she trusted him. Everyone else slowly hid in any shadow or bush they could find. Shadowkit sniffed the air. The MoonClan scent was getting stronger. He prepared himself for a jump.

"Scourgestar! I found the entrance!" yelled an under-aged warrior. He scrambled into the camp. He looked around. "I don't see anything either. Their stench is all over the place, though. I can't smell anything!" the young warrior hissed.

"QUIET! You shall be punished when we get back to MoonClan camp. Because you simply announce for all to hear that we're entering an enemy camp, you put us all in danger," Scourgestar hissed.

The cats scouted the area and didn't find anyone when they looked everything over. The really weren't looking actually. They were just walking around and saying, "Nothing here!" Shadowkit rolled his eyes.

Scourgestar immediately stopped. He could hear whispering. He turned around and found the nursery. He found it weird that there was no queen to watch them… He figured that he should try to get them anyway. He was the most powerful cat in the forest, after all.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty…," he snarled as he poked his head in. Swiftkit glared at him, Lightkit trembled in fear, and Dawnkit didn't know what to do. Scourgestar laughed.

"S-Scourgestar?" squeaked Lightkit.

"No… You don't have to be so formal… You can call me… MASTER!" Scourgestar yelled slamming his paw down in front of them to frighten them. "Now, come with me…"

"Not on your life!" Swiftkit hissed slashing Scourgestar's face. He only left a tiny scratch. Scourgestar raised his fur and flexed his muscles for the kit to see. Swiftkit immediately regretted his decision.

"Are you going to fight me? Why I'm shaking in my paws! I'll have no choice but to finish you!" he yowled raising his paw.

"Now!" yelled Shadowkit.

Acorntail raked her claws into Scourgestar's side. She bit his ear and felt a wave of satisfaction come over her when she saw his eyes full of surprise and anger. He hissed and shoved her over which allowed him to pin her to the ground. Crocscale jumped onto his back and tried to bite at his neck. Scourgestar lets go of Acorntail allowing her to run over to another warrior. Scourgestar was able to shake off Crocscale and he bit down hard on his scruff and threw the large tom across the clearing. Vanillaflower gasped and then hissed with rage. She then started slashing at Scourgestar.

Shadowkit was facing Metalclaw who towered over him. Shadowkit unsheathed his claws and looked as if he were going to jump. Instead, he dashed quickly between Metalclaw's legs and unbalanced him. He kicked at the large warrior. For the first time, he was glad he was so small. Metalclaw sprang away from Shadowkit. The kit stood up as fast as he could, but Metalclaw took that advantage. He shoved Shadowkit to the ground using both of his paws and putting all of his weight on the tiny kit. Shadowkit realized how much danger he was in. He was a kit with a warrior putting all of his weight on his throat and chest. He hissed and tried to kick him off. Metalclaw pushed down harder with his tail twitching with satisfaction. Shadowkit now couldn't breathe with all of the weight on him. Metalclaw was going to suffocate him! He tried to cry for help but he didn't have any breath to do so. He was stuck.

Emeraldkit slashed at an inexperienced warrior like it was nothing. They were just apprentices. She watched as they ran out of the bramble tunnel. She searched the clearing for her next enemy. She saw Metalclaw and she fluffed her fur up half in terror and half in anger. Shadowkit was being either crushed or suffocated. Maybe both. She ran at the warrior and jumped on his back. Metalclaw didn't let go of Shadowkit when he tried to shake her off. She dug her claws into his fur. She bit down as hard as she could on his neck and clawed his ear. He hissed and finally let go of Shadowkit.

"You should not have interfered kit!" hissed Metalclaw shoving Shadowkit over to the side with a harsh swipe.

Shadowkit was dizzy and barely conscious. He sucked in a lungful of air and savored every second of it. He coughed as he tried to recover. When his vision finally cleared, he saw Emeraldkit looking at him. She helped him up to his paws. He still couldn't say anything because his throat hurt. He looked over at Metalclaw. He was panting and glaring at the two of them.

"Kits should not know as much as you two. However, I know you… I know you both… MoonClan cats! Your eyes give it away! This is not over young kits. I shall look forward to our next fight Emeraldkit and Shadowkit…," he said padding out of the clearing. The only cat left was Scourgestar. Everyone else was chased off. His fur was raised. Shadowkit figured that the rest of the other cats could take care of him. He heard Beepaw begin to give him a long lecture about why he shouldn't trespass. Crocscale slapped his tail over his mouth. There was a long silence as they waited to see what he would do.

"You… You think you've beaten me… However, I am still training all of my warriors… We shall, as an entire clan, attack this camp! Be prepared… We will be coming…," Scourgestar hissed. He turned tail and left. The cats were silent once more.

"We did it…," Acorntail said.

"The kits! Are they alright?!" demanded Vanillaflower racing into the nursery. She sighed with relief when she saw them curled up close to each other with big, round eyes.

"Is it over?" Lightkit asked with a squeak.

"They're gone… For now, at least…," Vanillaflower told her with a comforting lick.

Shadowkit didn't want to listen to anything else. He slunk away to the nursery and curled up as far away from everyone as he could. He jumped when he heard a bunch of cats burst through the bramble tunnel. MoonClan couldn't possibly be back already! Could they?!

Shadowkit ran back out to the clearing and calmed down when he saw that it was the rest of SunClan. The odd thing was that Sonicwind was leading them all. He was panting and looked around wildly.

"Where's MoonClan?! We smelled them here!" Sonicwind yelled.

"They were here. We were able to defend the camp just fine, though. They shouldn't be coming back anytime soon."

"Come quick!" Sonicwind yelled. He dashed back through the tunnel with the other cats hot on his paws. Shadowkit forced his legs to run after him. It was painful to breathe while he was running. His lungs and head were still trying to recover from the battle before. Relief washed over him when the cats stopped in a large clearing in the forest. The entire clan became silent. Shadowkit pushed his way through the crowd to figure out what was going on. He nearly choked when he saw that it was Knucklestar lying on the ground with a deep, nasty cut in his side and his leg was twisted awkwardly. There was a small pool of blood beneath him and Shadowkit whimpered because it hurt too much to say anything.

"I don't remember if it was his last life or not…," Sonicwind explained.

The clan fell silent for their leader. Shadowkit didn't know what Sonicwind meant by 'whether if it was his last life or not'. Goldenpaw moved up next to him and leaned on his side. Despite the fact that he was not yet an apprentice, she found his presence quite comforting. Cosmicleaf and another cream-colored cat shoved them out of the way and rushed around the leader. They backed up quickly when he jerked to the side inhaled a large breath. Shadowkit stood stunned. Sonicwind collapsed with relief. Knucklestar tried to stand up, but the scratch on his side was too deep and he only lost more blood when he tried. Sonicwind raced up to the leader.

"You'll be fine I promise! I'll help you get back to the camp and the medicine cats can fix you up! Do you remember anything?" asked Sonicwind helping Knucklestar onto his paws. Knucklestar cringed when the pain stung him when he stood.

I remember a paw coming down on my side and I died… However, I just can't remember seeing who it was…," Knucklestar explained.

Sonicwind sighed. "Well, can't be helped, I guess… Come on SunClan! Let's move!" Sonicwind bellowed.

When they reached the camp, Shadowkit didn't want to have anything to do with anything that just happened. He slunk over to the nursery. He thought that he'd go see Cosmicleaf and Creampaw while he still had the chance. They were too busy with Knucklestar to notice him walk in. Shadowkit waited outside. He heard Knucklestar say that he had to tell Sonicwind something. Shadowkit pricked his ears to hear what he said.

"Sonicwind, on the way back, I told the clan cats that I had only lost my fifth life. However, out of the nine lives, I got, I actually haven't lost that few. That was actually my seventh," Knucklestar explained.

Shadowkit backed away from the medicine den in almost terror. He could hear Sonicwind give a forced hushed reply. Even he was shocked. Shadowkit turned tail and ran to the nursery. He ran as far in as he could and curled up. He didn't know what would happen if the leader were to die. Sonicwind would probably take over. His name would become Sonicstar. Who killed the leader? Why didn't he want anyone to know? Wouldn't they gloat about it or do they have a bigger plan?

"Shadowkit…, Thanks for warning us… You could have saved the whole camp…," Emeraldkit told him.

"Yeah! You saved us all!" Dawnkit said with a happy bounce.

Shadowkit didn't want to hear their enthusiasm and congratulations. He wanted to roll up into a ball, fall asleep, and wake up as the hedgehog he was before. He heard Sonic's voice again. It happened every night. Before he went to sleep, Sonic's voice would beg him to come back to something. Come back to what? The more his neck hurt, the louder the voice became. Shadowkit tried to ignore it. The voice was almost too loud to ignore.

 _Shadow! Shadow! Come back!_

Shadowkit shook the voice from his head. He didn't want to listen. He wanted to come back. He just couldn't.

 _Shut up Sonic._

Shadowkit turned over and closed his eyes. The voice then said something it had never said before.

 _2-9-14-0._

 _What?_

 _2-9-14-0._

2-9-14-0? What did that mean? Words were flung into his head.

 _2 cats loved…_

 _9 lives earned…_

 _14 lost…_

 _0 learned…_

 _Those who were lost,_

 _will, in turn,_

 _take you down,_

 _to be burned…_

Shadowkit shuddered what was happening? Taken down to be burned?! Lost? Love? Lives? What did it mean? He struggled to figure it out, but a mysterious sleep came over him causing him to completely fade away in the darkness of his mind. He didn't remember the prophecy he had obtained. It was lost along with him in his mind.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Shadowkit awoke to the sound of Sonicwind calling a clan meeting. Sonicwind was only the deputy! He wasn't the leader! Yet… Shadowkit got up and ran out to the clearing to hear what he had to say. He found himself sitting next to Goldenpaw again. She was looking up at the Skyrock with excitement. Shadowkit wondered again what the fuss was all about. Emeraldkit walked out and sat on the other side of Shadowkit. Now, he felt really awkward. Two of his closest friends in the camp and they were both she-cats and were sitting on both sides of him. He didn't dare move.

"Is your throat feeling better?" asked Emeraldkit.

Shadowkit tried to mew a reply. The reply came out as a croak rather than a meow. It was also really painful still. Goldenpaw looked at him with concern.

"What's wrong? What happened?" asked Goldenpaw.

"A full-grown warrior was putting all of his weight down on his throat to try and suffocate him. Metalclaw is who did it," Emeraldkit explained.

Goldenpaw pressed up against him again. She licked his ear which made him feel really awkward. Emeraldkit looked at Goldenpaw. Her expression was pure envy and jealousy. She got up and walked away without another word.

"What happened to your friend?" asked Goldenpaw as she looked off in her direction.

'Gee…, I don't know…,' Shadowkit wanted to answer sarcastically. He'd have to talk to her later. He looked up at the Skyrock to find Sonicwind giving him a look of understanding. They both were being terrorized by two she-cats. Shadowkit suddenly felt a wave of respect for the warrior. He understood almost everything he felt even when it came to she-cats.

Sonicwind cleared his throat. "Cats of SunClan, today is a very special day. Dawnkit has reached six-moons and can begin his training as an apprentice! Knucklestar chose me to do the ceremony because he can't physically be here at the moment. The training of our apprentices must go on. I shall be doing the ceremony today. Dawnkit, will you come here please?" asked Sonicwind to the tabby kit in the back. Dawnkit strutted through the clearing and jumped up onto the Skyrock.

"Dawnkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Dawnpaw. Your mentor will be Acorntail. I hope Acorntail will pass down all she knows on to you," Sonicwind told Dawnpaw.

Dawnpaw jumped off of the Skyrock with a quick thanks to Sonicwind. The entire clan chanted Dawnpaw's new name.

 _Dawnpaw! Dawnpaw! Dawnpaw!_

Dawnpaw raced over to Acorntail. Shadowkit nodded his approval. Acorntail will be a good choice for him. He needs a patient mentor who has great concentration and skills. He left and thought about who his mentor would be. Roseheart? Nope. She's not his type. The spies can't have apprentices… Jetstorm? Hopefully not… He then thought. Could the leader an apprentice? He knew Sonicwind could become his mentor. It would make sense.

"Shadowkit! Can you believe it?! I'm finally an apprentice!" Dawnpaw said running up to him excitedly.

Shadowkit nodded. A pang of envy stabbed his heart when he realized that he had to wait two moons more before he could become an apprentice… He watched Dawnpaw race after Acorntail to get shown the territories. He walked back to the nursery. He could see Emeraldkit sitting in the corner with her head down. Her tail twitched when he approached to apologize.

"Look, I know you like your friend more than me. Just go hang out with her already!" she snapped.

Shadowkit shook his head. He may not be able to talk but he could at least try to explain that he didn't mean for anything to happen. He knew she could be stubborn at times, however.

"It's just that nobody likes me. Just leave me alone," she said.

Shadowkit hissed at her. He shook his head at her again. She got the message that he was trying to give to her. Emeraldkit was silent. Even though they've only known each other for a moon, they were really close friends. She knew some of his darker secrets. She knew them all except for him and his weird connections with StarClan and his other hedgehog self.

 _Goldenpaw isn't going to replace you. Never. You are my friend and you always will be._

Shadowkit wanted to tell her this. He turned back around to leave her alone.

Shadowkit walked over to the medicine den. If he couldn't be very productive with friends, he could check on Knucklestar and asked Cosmicleaf if there was something that could be done for his voice. As he walked into the medicine den, he saw Knucklestar. His conversation with Sonicwind came back to him. He tried to act like he didn't know when he went over to Cosmicleaf who was placing herbs on his wound along with cobwebs and poultices. Shadowkit tried to recognize them. She was using cobwebs, marigold, and horsetail. She was doing a great job with Creampaw racing all of the herbs over to her mentor. She looked up at Shadowkit.

"Hi, Shadowkit! Is there anything I need to get you?" asked Creampaw.

Shadowkit tried to answer but his throat only lets out a croak. She gave him a concerned look and talked to Cosmicleaf.

"Shadowkit is having trouble with talking. Can I take over doing what you're doing while you help him?" asked Creampaw with hopeful eyes.

"You know what to do?" asked Cosmicleaf.

"Yes."

"Okay. You take charge while I help Shadowkit," she told her apprentice. She raced over to Shadowkit. "So, what's the problem, mystery of StarClan?"

Shadowkit tried to explain but couldn't. Cosmicleaf looked surprised. You aren't sounding so good… Show me what happened."

Shadowkit sighed. He didn't want to pantomime everything. He hissed and raised his fur. He pretended to be fighting.

"Yesterday when you were fighting with the MoonClan cats…," Cosmicleaf started.

Shadowkit straightened himself up and tried to make himself look like Metalclaw. He pointed to Sonicwind outside and impersonated Metalclaw.

".you started fighting with Metalclaw…"

Shadowkit started fighting the fictitious Metalclaw. He pretended that Metalclaw was holding him down by the throat.

"Metalclaw was putting all of his weight on your little throat causing you to nearly suffocate?!" demanded Cosmicleaf suddenly worried.

Shadowkit nods. He was glad that Cosmicleaf knew what to get. She said that he shouldn't even have survived at all. She also said that his throat was just a little sore right then. She brought back something that Shadowkit didn't expect to see. Honey.

"Drink that. It'll soothe your throat," Cosmicleaf explained.

Shadowkit lapped up as much as he could. He got an unexpected surprise. He couldn't taste it! He forgot that all cats have no taste buds that detect sweetness. The honey just felt good when it ran down his throat. He was starting to feel better already.

"Now, go get yourself some water to drink. It'll help. Try talking again once you do," Cosmicleaf explained to him. She went back to Creampaw. She nodded in approval.

"Good job Creampaw! You did everything perfectly!" she praised.

Shadowkit drank some water from a small puddle in the camp. He tested out his voice. "Testing… Is my voice going to work for me? Testing…," Shadowkit was pleased with the results. He was back to normal!

He raced back into the camp. and saw the medicine cats walking out of the den. Cosmicleaf and Creampaw waved to him. Shadowkit joined up with them again.

"Hi, Shadowkit! How's the treatment working?" asked Creampaw.

"It's great! I can speak! That's definitely an improvement," Shadowkit answered them.

Cosmicleaf nodded. "I knew it would work. Come on! We've got no time to waste if we're going to be back by tonight!"

"Where are you going?"

"Where are _**we**_ going, you mean. We're going to the MoonCliff," Cosmicleaf explained.

Shadowkit was confused. The half-moon was yesterday! Were they allowed to share tongues with their warrior ancestors a day after? Creampaw was able to read his expression.

"We still have to keep our communications with StarClan. They may have something to tell us that's really important that can only be shared at the MoonCliff! Cosmicleaf told me everything about you and how you will be joining us on our expeditions to the MoonCliff. We've told Knucklestar everything and he approves. Let's go!" she chirped.

Shadowkit followed next to them. The territory was so unfamiliar to him. He only dared to come out of camp twice. It wasn't like he knew everything very well. He made sure to keep his eyes on them to not get lost. A fog began to roll in as they approached the forbidden part of the forest. His fur prickled as he walked through the trees. The road split in two at one point. One road led to the MoonCliff and the other led to the Lake of the Lost. Shadowkit's ears twitched. He heard something down the path to the Lake of the Lost.

"Who's down that way?" asked Shadowkit looking down the other trail. Creampaw jumped in front of him and hissed.

"Don't listen to them! They'll try to draw you in! They'll try to pull you into the lake! Those who go in never come out!" Creampaw hissed.

A piercing yowl rang through the air. It sounded like a young cat. An apprentice. Shadowkit took a step towards the path as if he were going to save the cat that let out the shriek. Cosmicleaf stood in his way this time.

"Don't do it. The members of the Valley of Lost Echoes might be trying to lead you there with the sounds of an apprentice. Come with us before it gets to you!" Cosmicleaf snapped.

Creampaw looked to her mentor. They exchanged a glance that gave away that they knew something he didn't. Shadowkit decided not to question it. They continued on towards the MoonCliff. The cries disappeared behind them as they moved along. They made it to the small pool at the MoonCliff and the three of them waded into the pool and pressed their noses against the cold, hard, purple stone.

"Shadow, follow me," a deep pitched voice told him almost as soon as he made contact with the stone. He was pulled into a dream with the voice. He opened his eyes to find himself still standing where he was. A cat stalked up to him, though. A starry warrior who he recognized. Shadowstrike.

"You want me to follow you?" asked Shadow in his regular hedgehog form.

"Yes. Though you are a hedgehog, I do find that you are worthy to know what I am going to show you. Follow me. The other cats don't know that I'm going to be showing you this," Shadowstrike explained.

They hurried through the trees and ran down the forbidden path to the Lake of the Lost. Shadowstrike didn't hesitate so Shadow didn't either. Shadowstrike stopped Shadow before they burst into the clearing. There were a bunch of cats at the lake! Both living and dead. The dead cats were reflected in the water from the depths where they lived while the leader of MoonClan was looking into the water with two cats next to him. Shadow recognized Metalclaw but not the other large black tom. The black tom looks exactly like him only with gray stripes rather than red stripes. It then came to him. Mephiles the dark. His shadow.

"Pay attention. Don't speak. If you speak, we're done for. Just watch," Shadowstrike explained.

Scourgestar bowed smirked at the dark figure within the rippling water. Metalclaw and the cat who Shadow knew as Mephiles didn't move. "I say, you are raising quite the army Oakstar. We've been training our warriors so that they may one day join you in your unstoppable army."

"Bring us more… We need more… Shadow will ruin everything if we don't do something quick," the dark ripple known as Oakstar (Dark Oak from Sonic X) replied. Scourgestar ripped at the ground.

"My patrol wasn't big enough! I sent my best warriors with the patrol to cause the distraction! I have learned from my defeat. What shall I do to kill the little scrap known as Shadowkit?" Scourgestar questioned.

"Don't do it while he's a kit. The clan will be watching him closely. We need to wait for him to become a warrior so we can force him to join us. Cosmicleaf stood up for him about a moon ago when I tried to lure him here. Until he becomes a warrior, continue training. Bring an apprentice to us every moon to join our ranks so we can become stronger. Don't let us down…," the voice commanded.

Scourgestar bowed again to the ripple before it disappeared. He flicked his tail to Metalclaw and the cat form of Mephiles. They began to walk away from the lake. Shadow wanted to speak but Shadowstrike flattened his ears at the hedgehog to indicate that he should continue to be silent. A cat-like figure hopped up from the lake and looked directly at them.

"Your presence has been sensed. Come out," the figure hissed.

Shadowstrike gave Shadow a glare and he padded out into the clearing and stopped in front of the dark, shadowy warrior. "What?"

"You shouldn't have been spying. You have crossed our borders. Leave this place!" the warrior hissed slashing at Shadowstrike's pelt. Shadowstrike hissed when the warrior's claws made contact. He nodded and turned around.

"Fine. There's nothing you need to worry about because we already know your plans…," Shadowstrike stated as he left with a shrug.

"You're hiding something."

Shadowstrike didn't stop. He continued to walk away. "Yeah. I'm hiding a lot of things."

"The hedgehog in the trees."

"What? I didn't hear you," Shadowstrike said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

The dark figure sat on the ground and licked its paw. "What about Brightleaf?" It laughed when Shadowstrike finally froze in his tracks and turned around with his lips drawn back in a snarl.

"What about her?"

The dark figure stood up. "I know where she is. There's only one problem. She's falling in love with another cat."

Shadowstrike clawed at the ground. "How do you know?"

"We've been following around the hedgehog and we saw that he's made friends with a little friend you know about. The reincarnated Brightleaf named Goldenpaw."

Shadow had enough. He ran out into the clearing. "I didn't do anything! Shadowstrike, don't listen to him. He's trying to turn you against me!"

"I already know that… It's just that… Silverflight…," Shadowstrike hissed.

Shadow looked at the warrior with a confused expression on his face. "What does Silverflight have to do with anything?"

"He's my son. He killed her and is responsible for everything!" Shadowstrike growled.

"How?!"

The stars on Shadowstrike's pelt began to melt away. They were replaced with shadows. His eyes turned a milky white and he began to lose all emotion as he remembered his hatred. Silverflight must've done something. Silver wouldn't do anything against anyone! Or would he?

"Join us and he will never be able to harm you or Brightleaf again…," the figure said.

Shadowstrike turned around and shoved his paw into the lake. Suddenly, his eyes returned to normal. He gasped almost in terror at what he had done. A dark claw raked through the surface of the water and clamped down on Shadowstrike's paw. It pulled him down as Shadowstrike resisted.

Shadow couldn't move. He could only watch the gruesome scene being played in front of him. Shadowstrike looked to him with a desperate glare. Shadow couldn't meet it. The force of the lake made it so he couldn't move.

"Shadow, listen!" Shadowstrike desperately commanded. Shadow listened.

"2-9-14-0!"

The prophecy flew through his head and repeated again and again. Shadow trembled for a second. Shadowstrike continued.

"Once you figure it out, SAVE ME!" cried the warrior as he was pulled into the water with a piercing yowl.

Shadowkit woke up beside the MoonCliff. Cosmicleaf and Creampaw were giving him a worried glance. Shadowkit sat up shakily. His eyes were really distant.

"What's wrong Shadowkit?" asked Creampaw.

"He's gone…," Shadowkit said.

"Who's gone?!" demanded Cosmicleaf.

"Sh-Shadowstrike…," Shadowkit squeaked.

Cosmicleaf's gaze clouded. She looked up to the sky. Night had fallen fast. She remembered Shadowstrike. When she was a kit, she would often talk to the warrior. She remembered his crestfallen face when he remembered his past and his stern glares at Silverflight. Even though he was a tough cat, he was also nice under all of his toughness. "How is he gone…?"

"Th-The lake…"

Creampaw gasped in horror. Cosmicleaf ruffled her fur. "I'm not allowed to ask this, but what happened?!"

Shadowkit forced the story out of his mouth. Cosmicleaf lowered her head for the warrior. She then looked up. "What did he mean by, 'once you figure it out, save me'?" Cosmicleaf asked.

Shadowkit couldn't stop shaking when he remembered. He felt more like a kit than ever. He wouldn't be this scared as a hedgehog, but he wasn't a hedgehog. He was a kit. He told them the prophecy. "2… 9… 14… 0…," Shadowkit told them.

"What?" asked Creampaw.

 _2 cats loved…_

 _9 lives earned…_

 _14 lost…_

 _0 learned…_

 _Those who were lost,_

 _will, in turn,_

 _take you down,_

 _to be burned…_

Creampaw and Cosmicleaf looked at each other. They were thinking about what it would mean. Creampaw spoke up about one part.

"I know nine lives earned means that someone is going to become the leader and get nine lives. Every clan leader gets nine lives. The rest I don't know…," she said.

"I may know something. Two cats loved. Sonicwind knows a lot about this…," Cosmicleaf said giving Shadowkit a sly glance. Shadowkit shook his head awkwardly.

"You mean that Shadowkit has to cats loving him, or the other way around, or both?" Creampaw asked.

"I don't know. We must get back to camp, though. It's getting darker. Let's go!" Cosmicleaf commanded as she dashed through the trees. Shadowkit forced his paws to run behind them.

 _1 lost._

 _13 more._

 _There's a cost_

 _for deaths galore._

 _Better run while you can_

 _Or the future will say that to doom you ran._

"Leave me alone!" Shadowkit cried as he ran through the trees. He didn't want any more prophecies! He didn't want anything to do with anything! It was right then that he realized just how dangerous the Lake of the Lost and the Valley of Lost Echoes were.

ZairaDrayan: Sorry that this chapter was a little darker than the others. It's because I have to show just how dangerous the enemy is. So powerful that they can turn a StarClan cat evil. Thanks for reading and for hanging with me so far!


	6. Chapter 5

Shadowkit had curled up in the nursery when he had finally returned. His paws hurt and he still couldn't stop trembling. Sleep came slowly for him. Sonic's voice finally put a sock in it. When he finally did fall asleep, he'd only see Shadowstrike's face. his eyes were glazed with terror and his jaws gaped open in his final scream. He woke up from it again and again. Vanillaflower would comfort him and tell him it was only a dream. He wanted to scream whenever she said that. It did happen!

His life moved really slowly from that point on. He was confined to the camp until he was apprenticed. He still envied the apprentices. Especially Lightkit and Swiftkit. They became apprentices. Now they were Lightpaw and Swiftpaw. Lightpaw's mentor was Roseheart. Swiftpaw's mentor was Jetstorm.

He envied them all.

Beepaw and Goldenpaw finally became warriors. Shadowkit couldn't have been prouder of them. Beepaw became Beeflight and Goldenpaw became Goldenheart. Emeraldkit and he still had a moon of waiting before they could be apprenticed. Blazepelt was Silverflight's mate and surprised us all when she said she was probably going to have kits at some point. At least, the nursery would never be empty. She wasn't moved into the nursery yet. Vanillaflower still stayed to guard the two young prisoners.

Sonicwind, one day, went to visit Shadowkit out of boredom and decided to make a request. He padded up to the den and poked his head inside. Shadowkit was sitting upside down against a wall. He was using his tail to balance and Emeraldkit was swatting her tail because nobody would let her go outside to kill a leaf. Sonicwind felt a little guilty for a moment before shaping up.

"What's up…?" asked Shadowkit with a monotone voice.

"I was just going to ask you if we could possibly have a race. I'm bored and I haven't had any chance to not be proper for once!" Sonicwind exclaimed.

Shadowkit did a somersault to get back to his feet and Emeraldkit looked up with interest. Shadowkit nodded and they stalked out of the nursery quietly. Sonicwind glanced around and right when he thought he was in the clear, he got jumped!

"Oof!" Sonicwind exclaimed.

Shadowkit looked over. He wasn't allowed to leave the nursery. He still had to meet the rest of the cats in the clan. However, he could guess who this was.

"Hi, sweety!" Roseheart purred.

Sonicwind groaned. "Hi, Roseheart…"

Emeraldkit had to giggle and Shadowkit only watched them with a smirk on his face. Sonicwind felt a little terrified.

"L-Let me go! I've got other things to deal with! Don't you have an apprentice now?!" demanded Sonicwind.

Roseheart flicked her tail towards Lightpaw who was dragging a rabbit as big as her into the camp with pride. Roseheart looked back to Sonicwind. "She's got more on the way too."

Suddenly, Acorntail came into the clearing with her apprentice Dawnpaw. They had just finished some battle training by the looks of it.

"Not her too…," Sonicwind whimpered.

"Hi, Sonicwind. How's the deputy?" Acorntail asked.

"He's hanging out with me! Go away!" Roseheart yelled flattening her ears and baring her teeth at the warrior.

"I see you two want some alone time…," Acorntail said with a sly look on her face. Roseheart hissed.

"We're just hanging out! Go away!"

"We're not doing anything… I just wanted to have a race with Shadowkit…," Sonicwind complained.

Roseheart and Acorntail both looked at Shadowkit. They raced over to him and started asking him a bunch of questions at once.

"I know that you're a great fighter, but how do you beat Sonicwind in a race?! He's the fastest!" Acorntail exclaimed.

"He's a great fighter? How can that be?! He's only a kit!" Roseheart said.

"He faced Metalclaw. Almost beat him! Emeraldkit here saved his life!" Acorntail explained.

The two she-cats then looked at Emeraldkit. Shadowkit flicked his tail at them and shook his head as if to say, 'don't interrogate her.' She sighed with relief when they went to Sonicwind. Shadowkit pulled her away when he saw someone he had been meaning to talk to for about a moon. Silverflight.

"Why do you want to talk to Silverflight? He doesn't contribute to anything," Emeraldkit explained to him.

'Or so you think,' Shadowkit thought. He still remembered the dream he had with StarClan. Silverflight was his "son". He felt that it should be Silverflight who he had to talk to.

"Silverflight!" Shadowkit called.

The white warrior swung his head around to look at the small kit. He could see a small chill run down the warrior's spine. Silverflight either knew or was just reminded of who he was.

"Shadowkit," Silverflight commented.

"Nice meeting you," Shadowkit started.

 _Again._

Silverflight looked around. He felt awkward Shadowkit could tell.

"Listen, I've gotta go," Silverflight said beginning to race off towards the warriors den. Shadowkit used his speed to stand in front of him to block his path.

"Nope. You're coming with me."

The two of them -with Emeraldkit close behind- scurried out of the camp. Silverflight looked down at the kit with eyes that almost showed terror.

"Silverflight, I've gotta talk to you. Who was your father?" Shadowkit asked.

Silverflight's eyes became distant. Shadowstrike's sharp demands and bitter statements towards him as an apprentice returned to him. "Shadowstrike… He was the deputy of SunClan for a while…"

"Hm… How would you describe the relationship between the two of you?" he asked.

"I know what's going on… StarClan told you didn't they! What I tell you doesn't matter because you already know how tough my life was!" Silverflight snapped.

"I do know that you two weren't exactly the closest-"

"There wasn't anything would even say we were close! I ruined everything! You got that?!" Silverflight's words stung the two young kits. The words of a warrior who's seen things that they haven't. The pain of being an apprentice without anyone to truly be there other than Blazepelt.

Shadowkit couldn't stop now. He had to keep probing. "Well, I don't know why Shadowstrike hated you so much. Can you tell me that much?" he asked.

Silverflight's tail wouldn't stop swishing back and forth. His eyes were distant as if he were lost in a flashback. There was one thing he could see clearly. The rejection, anger, disappointment, hatred in his eyes. Heart engulfed in flames. Shadowstrike really wasn't a cat Silverflight wanted to remember. "Shadowstrike's… mate was Brightleaf… and I… was just made an apprentice… He was proud of me for one shining moment… Th-Then… My mentor with Brightleaf… Went out on a border patrol… and…"

Silverflight didn't finish the story. He continued to tremble. Shadowkit and Emeraldkit didn't move. They only waited. Silverflight swiped at the ground and flattened his ears. "It was an accident and he wanted to send me to exile. However, Earthstar allowed me to stay in the clan! I don't know why she would help me after what I did!"

"After you did what? What was an accident?" asked Emeraldkit using one of her higher voices to try to make him want to tell her because she was so adorable.

"I killed her. I tripped onto the Thunderpath right as one of those monsters were coming. Right as I was about to get squashed by the monster… Brightleaf jumped up to save me… She threw me off of the Thunderpath and… sh-she got injured… It was really bad… I came sulking back to the camp to see Shadowstrike. He was glaring at me… I knew those eyes too well… The ones telling me that he would never forgive for my little mess-up. You get it now don't you? Don't you pity me?! If I didn't step on that Thunderpath, she would still be alive in the elder's den!" Silverflight yelled. He scraped at the ground.

"You mean…? You did kill Brightleaf?" asked Emeraldkit.

"It wasn't on purpose…"

"Silverflight! Silverflight!" yelled Blazepelt. She was looking around to try and find him. Silverflight gave one look back at the kits and dashed away to meet his mate.

"Shadowkit… I had no idea… Wait. You knew," Emeraldkit said with a shake of her head at the kit. Shadowkit nodded.

"Come on. Let's go do something! After that, I wanna do something to bring my spirits up for once," Shadowkit told her.

Emeraldkit looked through the clearing and saw Goldenheart joining a patrol of warriors. She usually would have suggested that they would do something fun with the apprentices. Without Goldenheart there to bring life to what they were doing, there wasn't much point. She turned back to Shadowkit.

"What can we do? There's nothing here to do…," she complained.

"If only if we were apprentices…," Shadowkit said wishfully. Confined to the camp until he became an apprentice due to a traumatizing experience at the MoonCliff. Did Knucklestar have to give him a punishment like that? He knew what he was. They were just being overprotective of "The Chosen One".

"Shadowkit!" cried the deputy. He ran over and hid behind the tiny black kit. Shadowkit looked over to see Roseheart dashing towards them. She stopped and glared at Shadowkit.

"Step aside kit! This is my fight!" she announced.

Shadowkit planted his claws into the ground. He wasn't going to move. He looked to Emeraldkit and grinned. "Sit back and watch." He sheathed his claws.

"Is that a challenge?!" demanded Roseheart with surprise. A kit against a warrior… Would that be a fair fight? She raised her fur. "if it is, I accept!"

Sonicwind looked at the kit's determined eyes and knew there was something different about him. He wasn't going to give Roseheart a lousy battle. He was going to fight her with the blazing fire of a warrior. Sonicwind's blood ran cold when he realized who Shadowkit looked like. Shadowstrike.

"Shadowstrike?" asked Sonicwind with amazement.

Shadowkit wasn't listening to Sonicwind. He crouched down with his claws sheathed ready for his fight. Roseheart also sheathed her claws. No blood would be shed in this battle.

Shadowkit took the first move. He thought fast. If he were to outwit her with his speed, things would be a look easier on him. She looked at his every move trying to calculate what he was doing. Shadowkit ran over to her side as fast as Sonicwind would. She turned to face him but he was already jumping onto her back and kicked her trying to off-balance her. In that one moment when she wavered, he jumped in front of her and swatted her whiskers. Her senses were a little boggled after that. He was in one spot and then the next. She couldn't keep up! He nipped her back and she hissed. Cats began to gather into the clearing to watch their battle. Roseheart was confused and dizzy. Shadowkit was almost teleporting around her with his paws as fast as lightning. Roseheart couldn't take much more. She closed her eyes and dug her claws into the ground to keep herself balanced. She focussed on Shadowkit's movements. She flicked her tail up in front of him. He was moving too fast to stop and tripped over her tail! He landed on the ground and now Roseheart was in control.

"Surely you'd know better than to make a little slip-up like that!" she taunted.

Her teeth snatched his scruff and he was tossed into the air. He focussed on what was happening and twisted his whole body in mid-air. He landed neatly on all four paws. He sighed. So it was true that all cats land on their feet…

The two cats looked at each other for a long moment with now every cat's eyes on them. Even Knucklestar was watching from on the Skyrock. His eyes were glued to Shadowkit and he wore an unreadable expression. Shadowkit was unaware of the other cats. He saw only Roseheart and thought about his next move. Roseheart looked back into his red eyes. She felt an intense feeling of déjà vu. She was only a kit when she met up with Shadowstrike. She didn't remember him. Even so, the familiar feeling of Shadowkit's eyes was disturbing. She stood without moving.

"Well, I'm not letting you win this…," Shadowkit huffed.

"Really? You're not? We'll see about that!" she replies.

The two jump at each other. Shadowkit dashes off to the side at the last minute and bites down on her tail. He pulls on her tail and she tries to yank it out of his mouth. When he doesn't let go, she yelps in pain. He was stronger than his tiny body gave away. He hauled her by the tail to the other end of the clearing and then jumped onto her back. His claws showed themselves and were tempted to rake her flank but were restrained. Roseheart shook him off. Her tail had a deep bite mark from Shadowkit. Her mind was overwhelmed. How was he so good at fighting?! How was he so strong?! How was he so fast?!

"Go Shadowkit! Keep at him Roseheart!" Sonicwind chanted.

Emeraldkit gave him an odd look. Sonicwind looked back at her. "I'm not siding with anyone. I don't want to get killed by Roseheart and I actually like Shadowkit. In fact…" Sonicwind dashed off towards Knucklestar who was still gazing at the two clan cats in battle. He began to mumble some words in his ear and Knucklestar looked at him surprised. Sonicwind said something else to the leader and Knucklestar finally nods. Sonicwind grins.

Shadowkit still wasn't paying attention to the cats on the sideline. He was thinking about how he should make his final move. The warrior was three times the size he was. There was one way…

"Roseheart, come on!" Shadowkit taunted. He faked a slash at her flank. He ducked away before he could hurt himself or her. She growled and dashed after him. This time she wasn't holding back and was actually staying on his tail. Just what he wanted. He made sure to stay just in front of her as they ran. She'd occasionally try to bite his tail but would fail. He ran around the tree slowly gaining on her. Roseheart didn't back down. She didn't notice that each time they looped around, he grew closer to the tree. He suddenly ran away from the tree causing Roseheart to stumble, but she was soon on his tail again. He made a U-turn at the bramble tunnel and ran straight for the tree. Roseheart followed. Shadowkit jumped up the tree and pushed off of the bark doing a backflip and landing on all four paws. Roseheart wasn't so stylish.

 _Crash!_

"Ow…," Roseheart mumbled. She had accidentally run into the tree because she was so focussed on Shadowkit, she didn't really know where she was going. Shadowkit grinned as he pinned her down.

Knucklestar finally stood from where he was watching. "That's enough! Shadowkit has won! No more fighting," he commanded.

A few cats in the audience groaned. Shadowkit slowly helped Roseheart back to her paws. She stood exhausted. Cosmicleaf and Creampaw ushered her off to the medicine cat den. The pink feline made no objections. She only looked back at Shadowkit with eyes that asked one word. How?

 _I don't know. It's the power from beyond StarClan._

Emeraldkit sat next to him and gave him her most amazed expression. It was actually the first time Shadowkit ever saw her that wonderstruck. She looked at him as if he were a StarClan warrior. It felt good. Well, until Goldenheart joined them. She missed the whole thing on her patrol.

"Hey, Shadowkit! Sorry, I missed all the excitement! Doubletail told me what happened! That was awesome!" she exclaimed.

"It was nothing," Shadowkit answered. He looked over to see Emeraldkit had left again.

"I'm so sorry about not being here to cheer you on. You should've told me about how much power you have! I've never even dreamed of such powers from a kit!" she said excitedly.

"Like I said, it was nothing."

As Shadowkit compared himself to her, he felt really small. Too small. She liked him and was a warrior. Major age differences made him feel a little intimidated.

"Well, I've got to talk to the deputy about the MoonClan borders," she said padding off.

"What's wrong with them?"

"The MoonClan cats have moved their border within our territory again. I don't want another fight with them. Not after what happened two moons ago.

Shadowkit agreed. He didn't want to fight with the rival clan either. However, he knew he was sent to this world to fight. He just didn't know what he was supposed to fight yet. The Valley of Lost Echoes? MoonClan themselves? For all he knew, he'd have to face StarClan themselves! The responsibilities all put on the tiny shoulders of a tiny kit.

He looked up at the sky again. It was about noon. The clan cats called it sun-high. Cats would begin sharing tongues soon. He didn't feel like talking anymore. Maybe Vanillaflower would let him take a nap in the nursery. No. He had to go check on Roseheart.

"Mer-ow-ow-ow-ow!" Roseheart cried as Cosmicleaf put some sort of remedy on her cuts, bruises, and splinters. She was pulling a small piece of wood from her paw. It had gotten jammed into the pad and Cosmicleaf had to pull it out. Roseheart wasn't liking it one bit. Creampaw ran up to Shadowkit.

"You are an amazing fighter. Whoever's gonna be your mentor is going to have it easy! You'll learn fast! What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I just want to make sure that I'm not actually hurt myself. I also wanted to come in and apologize to Roseheart."

Roseheart looked up at the tiny kit. Cosmicleaf had left the splinter for a second and went to find some herbs. Roseheart didn't say anything.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get that worked up. I was bored and what are kits supposed to do when they're bored?" asked Shadowkit trying to brighten the mood a little.

The she-cat thought for a moment. After a long pause, she finally smiled back at him. "Yeah… I'm sorry also for getting so worked up about Sonicwind that I'd just agree to attack a kit… Forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me!" Shadowkit answered.

"Deal. MEROW! That hurt!" Roseheart cried. Cosmicleaf got the tiny piece of wood out at last. She put it on the ground and grinned.

"I think that should do it!" the medicine cat purred.

"Thank you…," Roseheart answered licking her paw.

Creampaw confirmed that Shadowkit was fine and she recommended that he rest up to recover some strength. Shadowkit headed back to the nursery and sat down in the corner. Emeraldkit was just on the other side of the den. She looked over. "Medicine cat say you're fine?"

"Yep."

"That's good…"

Shadowkit did have a question. Why did she always leave whenever he talked to Goldenheart? They used to be friends when they were apprentices! Now, not as much. He decided to ask. "So, why have you been avoiding Goldenheart?"

Emeraldkit didn't answer at first. It was almost as if the reply hurt too much to talk about. She sighed. "Ever since she became a warrior, it's been awkward between us. She doesn't have time anymore to hang out with us. She's got so many new responsibilities while we sit around being bored. That's why I leave whenever she comes around to talk. She's not the same Goldenheart I was friends with. Goldenpaw had time for us. Goldenheart doesn't."

That much, Shadowkit could understand. It was hard to see Goldenheart move up to being a warrior and leaving them behind. It wasn't something he could fix, though. Everyone was having their own set of problems. Emeraldkit wasn't friends with Goldenheart anymore, Sonicwind was being tortured by she-cats, Roseheart got beaten up by a kit, Silverflight had family issues, and Blazepelt was going to have kits at some point. Then there was him. The tiny black bundle of fur with the power from beyond StarClan destined to save the forest…


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Years of boredom seem to go by after that. Knucklestar is now observing me when he thinks I'm not looking. It's weird. He never said anything about my little fight with Roseheart. I think he's suspecting me. I don't know what of. I already know that he knows what I am, but I don't think he knows about me being Shadowstrike. Maybe that's why he's inspecting my every move. He would've been a warrior when Shadowstrike was around. He became the deputy after Shadowstrike. Blazepelt finally moved into the nursery and her belly is large and swollen because of her kits. They'll be due soon. I'm going to move out of the nursery soon with Emeraldkit. Becoming an apprentice is just around the corner. Now I know why Dawnpaw was so desperate to become an apprentice. When I do become an apprentice, I'll finally be able to return to the MoonCliff. Sonic's voice in my head has been silent and nothing other than that has happened.

"Shadowkit!" Emeraldkit yelled. She had almost doubled in size and was nearly the size of an apprentice. She bowled him over and purred when he couldn't quite kick her off. She had trained with him in her free time making herself into a strong kit. She's been doing it more lately. Probably because she wants to impress her mentor.

"What do you want Emeraldkit? Do you want to send me to the medicine den again?" asked Shadowkit with a smirk on his face. Emeraldkit got off of him and returned to a calm state. Her tail was swishing randomly to give away her excitement.

"I can't wait to become an apprentice! The apprentice ceremony is today!" she announced.

"I know! Finally, I'll be able to move out of this prison!" Shadowkit said hopping to his feet. He looked at the dawn patrol beginning to set out. The ones in the patrol were Acorntail, Dawnpaw, Swiftpaw, and Jetstorm. Early hunting patrols were leaving the camp as well. Knucklestar hopped down from his tree to stretch his legs. He greeted Diamondwing and Camoflight with a nod. He looked back to the nursery at Shadowkit. This time, he knew he was looking back. The leader was thinking. What kind of warrior would he be? Who his mentor would be? His possible future warrior name? His best qualities?

Emeraldkit looked in the direction he was looking. Knucklestar was staring at them. She nudged him. "Why is Knucklestar looking at us?"

Shadowkit stood up and shook his head. He turned away and began to walk off. He flipped around and pounced on her tail. She squeaked in alarm. "HEY!"

"Got ya."

Knucklestar smiled with amusement. He climbed onto the Skyrock and looked down at the clearing and called a clan meeting. Emeraldkit began to vigorously lick her fur. Shadowkit just stood up and walked out to the clearing and sat beneath the Skyrock.

"Today, I am proud to announce that Emeraldkit and Shadowkit have reached six moons! They are now allowed to become apprentices of SunClan. Shadowkit, Emeraldkit, would you please join me up on the Skyrock?" asked Knucklestar looking down at the two of them. They both nod.

Once they got to the top of the top of the Skyrock, Knucklestar started the ceremony. "Shadowkit and Emeraldkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, your names shall be Emeraldpaw and Shadowpaw. Emeraldpaw, your mentor will be Doubletail. I hope that Doubletail will pass on all of his experience to you. Shadowpaw, you mentor will be Sonicwind. Due to your experience that is already beyond even one of our warriors, you shall be assigned as the apprentice to one of the most experienced warriors in the clan. Sonicwind, I do believe that you will pass on all of your knowledge to your apprentice," Knucklestar said. Sonicwind grinned and nodded.

 _Emeraldpaw! Shadowpaw! Emeraldpaw! Shadowpaw!_

"Thank you, Knucklestar," Emeraldpaw said over the cheering crowd of cats. She bowed her head humbly to the leader before dashing away to touch noses with her new mentor. Shadowpaw looked at Sonicwind. That was what Sonicwind was talking to Knucklestar about during their battle. He actually did see them talking to each other out of the corner of his eye. Faker his mentor? Man…

"Is there something wrong Shadowpaw?" asked Knucklestar. His gaze didn't change when he asked.

Shadowpaw remained silent for a heartbeat. He thought carefully about the question. Was there? He shook his head. "No. There's nothing wrong."

Knucklestar nods and Sonicwind waited patiently for Shadowpaw to join him. Shadowpaw touches noses with his new mentor. He knew it was traditions, but it still seemed a little weird.

"Shadowpaw, How would you like to have a tour of the territory with Emeraldpaw and Doubletail?" asked Sonicwind. He looked over at Emeraldpaw who had started up a conversation with Doubletail about something he didn't understand at all. Something about astrology maybe. He didn't even know what astrology was…

Shadowpaw nodded. He padded over to Emeraldpaw. She looked over and wrapped up her conversation with a brb. She faces him.

"Hello, Shadowpaw! I never knew how nice Doubletail was until he became my mentor. However, Shadowpaw, I envy you! You got the clan deputy for a mentor!" Emeraldpaw exclaimed.

"Sorry. I'm too awesome for my own good. Sonicwind is taking me on a tour of the territory. He's wondering if you could come with us," Shadowpaw explained.

Emeraldpaw looked to Doubletail who nodded. She looks back to Shadowpaw. "Tell him we accept. Just give me a minute!" Emeraldpaw said suddenly running off. She dashed into the medicine den.

Shadowpaw became curious. She doesn't need a medicine cat. What was her problem? He followed.

"Cosmicleaf!" Emeraldpaw yelled.

She sniffed around for a minute trying to find Creampaw or Cosmicleaf. They were nowhere to be seen. She begins to look around and looks through the herbs as if she were trying to find something. Her ears twitched when she saw a specific one. It was bright red and looked like a large cherry. She ruffled her fur and backed away from it and knocked over a shelf of herbs. She squeaked in terror as the herbs fell on the floor. She then growled at her clumsiness. Shadowpaw suppressed a merow of laughter. He slaps his tail over his mouth before he could.

As Emeraldpaw began to pick up the herbs, she finds an unusual stone that was a bright purple. It shimmered on the ground. Shadowpaw's ear pricked. He knew what it was. It was one of the spiritual stones from the StarCliff. He pays more attention as she approaches.

"A… glowing rock?" asked Emeraldpaw as she reaches out to touch it.

 _DON'T TOUCH IT!_

Shadowpaw's frantic thought was nothing more than a thought. She couldn't hear the thought. The tip of her claw pierced the rock and her eyes are engulfed in flames. The words of a thousand warriors ran through her head. Shadowpaw watches almost in terror and realizes what is happening. StarClan wasn't going to leave his secret alone were they?

 _Shadowstrike… 2… 9… 14… 0… 2… 9… 13… 0… Rippleclaw… 2… 9… 12… 0… Shadow… Hedgehog… Emeraldpaw…_

"Let… go… For the love of StarClan! Let me go!" Emeraldpaw wailed.

 _We are StarClan._

At those words, Emeraldpaw fell to the ground. She wasn't awake. StarClan took her soul. Shadowpaw didn't know where. He raced over to her. She was breathing really slowly and her pulse slowed down. She wasn't dead, at least. He turned his attention to the stone.

"StarClan, what do you have to tell her but not me?" he asked to the rock. It didn't respond to him.

"Shadowpaw, what are you doing here?" asked Cosmicleaf.

Shadowpaw jumped. When did she get back? He lowered his fur. "Emeraldpaw touched your StarCliff stone."

"I meant her to. StarClan told me to bring a sample of the stone at StarCliff back with me and to have Emeraldpaw find it so she can share tongues with StarClan. I called her to come to the den before she left camp," Cosmicleaf explained.

"Why would StarClan want to talk to her?" Shadowpaw asked.

"Maybe because they want her to know the truth.

Emeraldpaw opened her eyes. She was in a brightly lit clearing. The voices were gone and she was alone. What did it all mean? Why was she here?

"Welcome, Emeraldpaw. We've been meaning to speak with you for quite some time," a deep, female voice stated.

Emeraldpaw turned and saw a white-she cat staring at her. Emeraldpaw sat up straight and held her tongue. She somehow already knew that it was Earthstar. The former SunClan leader.

"I've brought you here for a serious matter. The prophecy on Shadow is exactly the same for you. The prophecy revolves around you as much as it does him," Earthstar explained.

"What do you mean?" asked Emeraldpaw.

"Allow me to explain."

Shadowpaw was pacing in the medicine den. He couldn't stand all the waiting. Emeraldpaw was out for almost an hour. He paced through the afternoon and through sunset. Emeraldpaw didn't respond to anyone. When the next morning came around, her eyes slowly began to open. She didn't say anything. She learned too much in one night. Her eyes were fixed on Shadowpaw.

"Shadow… Why aren't you telling us the truth?" she asked.

Shadowpaw slapped his tail over her mouth. He looked to Cosmicleaf. "Make sure nobody comes in. Okay?" he asked. Cosmicleaf sat in front of the door.

He helped Emeraldpaw to her paws and gave her a serious look. She equally returned the look he was giving her. "I know you Shadow. That's your actual name. I know I'm Zaira. I was dragged into this world like you. I just didn't remember. Why didn't you tell me that you were a hedgehog from another world?" she questioned.

"I didn't think anybody would believe me," Shadowpaw explained.

"Why didn't you tell me then?! I would have believed you! I didn't need a message from StarClan to believe I was part of your huge prophecy! 2-9-12-0!" Emeraldpaw yelled.

"Wait. 2-9-12-0? When I was told of it, I always learned that it was 2-9-14-0!" Shadowpaw said.

"Two cats have died in the Lake of the Lost. Shadowstrike and Rippleclaw," Emeraldpaw answered.

"You mean this prophecy is a giant death countdown?" asked Shadowpaw.

"Only a part of it. Something tells me that when every number reaches zero, something happens. The number keeps on changing."

"When 0 cats are loved, 0 lives are earned, 0 cats are lost, 0 learned will make something happen?"

"The prophecy changes as it goes on. Now it's 2 cats loved, 9 lives earned, 12 to be lost, 0 learned. It's counting down to something."

Shadowpaw suddenly got hit with a wave of knowledge. "Counting down to when the Valley of Lost Echoes will rise and take over the forest…"

Emeraldpaw nodded. Her expression never changed throughout the entire conversation. She knew everything now. There was nothing to hide. Rippleclaw from MoonClan, Shadowstrike from StarClan, another victim on the way… Only going to be slain…

"Come on. We need to get that tour. If we're going to battle the cats within the Valley of Lost Echoes, we must become fully grown warriors first," Emeraldpaw told Shadowpaw. He nods in agreement.

"Shadowpaw! Emeraldpaw!" Cosmicleaf called.

The two apprentices walk over to the medicine cat. She flicks her tail towards Sonicwind who's sitting impatiently in the clearing.

"Well, how was your little chat?" he asked.

The two apprentices looked at each other. They then looked back at Sonicwind and shrugged.

"Well, I'm not going to just sit around all day waiting without any answers! What happened?! I know you two are hiding something! So is Knucklestar! It's all about you two! Tell me!" yelled Sonicwind.

Shadowpaw and Emeraldpaw looked at each other again. Shadowpaw shook his head no. Sonicwind looked slightly offended. Before he could say anything in reply, he was interrupted by Knucklestar who summoned his deputy to him. Sonicwind rolled his eyes and walked over. They exchanged a few words and Sonicwind got a look of amazement in his eyes. He quickly ran back over to his apprentice and looked like he was going to say a million things all at once, but he couldn't say anything unless if he could say every word possible in two seconds.

"Well, now you know," Shadowpaw answered to him.

Sonicwind sat up straight. "We might as well just name you a warrior now then, Shadz," Sonicwind answered.

Shadowpaw's ears pricked. Shadz? That was one of his least favorite nicknames that Sonic gave him a long time ago. How would Sonicwind know of it?

"What did you call me?" asked Shadowpaw.

"Shadz! This nickname for you that I came up with for you. I just have this urge to call you that," Sonicwind explained.

Shadowpaw rolled his eyes. With Sonicwind as his mentor, he would learn a lot, but he would also be driven crazy six times minimum a day. Great. Perfect.

Doubletail ran over and said that he'd join them on their first time out. He wanted to help show them the territory. Cosmicleaf decided to come as well to show them a few things about herbs. What they should eat and what they shouldn't. They set out and padded through the bramble tunnel and crawled under the bush in front of the entrance. Shadowpaw found it easier to crawl under the bush because his muscles have grown stronger. Sunlight greeted him outside of the tunnel. It had been a long time since he last felt the leaves and undergrowth under his paws. Confined in the camp! It was finally behind him.

"Okay, the first place I am going to take you is to Running Life River. After that, Twoleg place. Third, Soul Rock. Fourth, High Trees. Last, is the rocky pass that leads to the StarCliff and the Lake of the Lost. Understood?" asked Sonicwind.

A shiver ran down everyone's spine at the mention of the terrible lake. Emeraldpaw clawed at the ground just thinking about poor Shadowstrike and Rippleclaw who drowned within the dark water with no end. Sonicwind shoved the thought out of his head.

"Okay, aren't we going to Running Life River?" asked Doubletail.

"Right! Follow me!" Sonicwind summoned.

The apprentices bolted after the deputy and Shadowpaw sniffed the air. He could smell the scents of the forest so clearly. It was hard to believe that his nose wasn't nearly as good when he was a hedgehog. Running water rippled and ran its way into earshot. He knew they were close. Sonicwind stopped at the edge of the river at the sandbank.

"This is Running Life River. This river is what separates our territory from MoonClan's territory. You must never cross it!" Sonicwind commanded.

The apprentices nodded. Never cross the Running Life River because it's a border. Sonicwind continued on away from the River. Shadowpaw noticed how he didn't want to be so near the river. Probably because he had a fear of water. Just like Sonic.

"The Twoleg place is over there across the river as well. It's where the Twolegs live. They have monsters that prowl on their Thunderpaths. Never step on a Thunderpath or they will squash you. Oh! A Twoleg! Take a close look apprentices!" Sonicwind hissed. They all leaned forward and watched.

Shadowpaw watched. It was just a human. Wait. The Twolegs were humans. That's why Sonicwind asked if he were trying to be a Twoleg or not. He was trying to walk on two legs like he was human. Sonicwind cringed at the water and ran off. Doubletail ran after him. Cosmicleaf sighed and scurried after them after making sure that the apprentices were coming.

"Did I look like one of those in your world, Shadowpaw?" asked Emeraldpaw curiously.

"Sort of. You had the shiniest wings in all of Mobius. Other than your wings and magic, you were, in a way, a Twoleg," Shadowpaw explained.

"What about you?"

"I was a hedgehog built to help the Twolegs. However, that purpose is gone now. I'm a cat. Since when did cats ever really help Twolegs?" asked Shadowpaw.

"Good point."

They followed their mentors. Sonicwind slowed his pace a little once the sound of the running water faded away. He fell into step with Shadowpaw. He knew that he had many questions. The problem was starting up the conversation… "So, now that I know about you, should I really know anything else?"

"Just don't tell anybody else about me. That's my only requirement. Not even your old apprentice Doubletail. Emeraldpaw has promised. Same with Knucklestar. What about you?" asked Shadowpaw staring the deputy in the eye.

Sonicwind looked over at Doubletail with almost a sad little glance. He sighed and nodded. Shadowpaw narrowed his eyes in disbelief but nodded anyway.

"Aren't we about to reach the Soul Rock within High Trees?" asked Cosmicleaf looking around. She flicked her tail towards a large rock in a clearing surrounded by large, tall trees. They all ran over.

"Ah! Yes, this is Soul Rock! It is said that StarClan made their very first appearance to a cat on this rock. This is the place where the clans got their very first medicine cat! Oh, what I'd give to go back to those times of peace within the clans… Back when both of the clans were good…, but that'll never happen. I can't bring back the past…," Sonicwind explained.

There was a long silence between them all. A silence for the past where peace was existent. However, peace was no longer around. There was a never-ending war with MoonClan. Sonicwind shook himself out of it and announced that they were going to continue.

They moved on down a small dirt path. Shadowpaw recognized this place. He had been here in both his dreams and reality. Mist rose all around them. They came to the fork in the road. One way went to the Lake of the Lost, the other went to the MoonCliff. Sonicwind gave the two apprentices a cold, hard stare.

"This way to the left is the road to the Lake of the Lost. The road on the right is the road to the MoonCliff. Only medicine cats are allowed to proceed beyond this point. Remember: Never come down these paths…," Sonicwind explained ominously. The way he was speaking made everyone's fur prickle. Shadowpaw could feel his skin crawl…

Cosmicleaf whispered something to Sonicwind. He gives her a brisk nod and guides the apprentices back through the mist to High Trees. They follow the border line back to the camp. Sonicwind yawns loudly once within the bramble thicket tunnel.

"Shadowpaw, I'm a little beat. Why don't you go to the apprentice den and get yourself settled in? I'm gonna hit the hay in the warrior's den."

Shadowpaw obeyed his mentor's orders. He snagged a mouse from off the fresh-kill pile and trotted towards the apprentice den. He walks in slowly. Dawnpaw and Lightpaw were back already. Swiftpaw was still out with his mentor. Shadowpaw didn't care. Emeraldpaw was exchanging a few words with Doubletail before she went to sleep. He found himself a nest of feathers, moss, and leaves near the back of the den. He curled up into a ball within the nest. For the first time in a moon, Sonic's voice spoke again to him gently in his ear.

 _2-9-12-0… 2-9-12-0… 2 to be loved… 9 lives to be earned… 12 to be lost… 0 will learn… Those who are lost, will, in turn, take you down to be burned…_

"Shadowpaw?" asked Emeraldpaw looking around in the den. She found his black pelt in the darkness. He could sense that she was walking up to him. She leaned down close to his ear. "Wherever this prophecy takes us, I'll be right here willing to fight with you. Just like in the battle we had with MoonClan. Goldenheart may have moved on to become a warrior, but I'll always be here at your side. remember that."

Shadowpaw didn't move. He had pretended to be asleep. He listened to her every word, though. Determination filled his heart almost as if lightning had struck it. He was going to fulfill the prophecy and bring the peace everyone wanted so badly back to the forest.

"Emeraldpaw."

He could hear her look back at him.

"Thank you…"

With those words, he curled up again and fell asleep. If he had dreamed, the dreams would have been good dreams. Dreams with peace and Emeraldpaw and Goldenheart. Yet, for some reason, he looked Emeraldpaw differently than Goldenheart. He looked at her like she was his only friend in the world of the warrior cats. He would say to himself, that's what she is.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Shadowpaw! Morning!" Dawnpaw yelled.

Shadowpaw's fur fluffed up and he jumped to his paws. He sunk back into his warm nest when he realized it was just Dawnpaw. He yawned and looked to Emeraldpaw's nest. She was already up. She left only a little while ago. He felt a little more motivated to stand when he realized his best friend was already awake. He stretched and gave his fur a few licks. Once that was done, he nodded to Dawnpaw and went to the fresh-kill pile. He was biting away at his vole and heard Sonicwind addressing orders to the warriors for the dawn patrol. Emeraldpaw was with Doubletail. Was she going on a dawn patrol? He went over to Sonicwind.

"Shadowpaw! Glad you're up! I was hoping we could do some early morning training. I'd like to start with a simple battle. We'll be training in the clearing of High Trees near the Soul Rock. It is said that when someone trains near the rock, they get a mysterious energy within them. What do you think?" asked Sonicwind.

"Okay. I actually came to ask why Emeraldpaw was going on the dawn patrol," Shadowpaw explained.

"Oh! Doubletail wanted to test her abilities in different areas of the territory and figured she could learn about the dawn patrol in the process. I honestly think that's a neat strategy! Maybe we could try that tomorrow."

"Um… I was hoping that I could train with her…," Shadowpaw said.

"Hm… Tell you what! I'll have Goldenheart come with us! I'm sure she'll be happy to help me train you. Goldenheart!" bellowed Sonicwind. She bolted up to him.

"Want me for the dawn patrol?" she asked.

"No. I want you to come join us for our first lesson. Would you mind?" asked Sonicwind. Goldenheart's eyes shimmered as she thought about it. She then nodded.

Sonicwind sent the dawn patrol away with Emeraldpaw giving Shadowpaw her most adorable eyes as she left. Shadowpaw could feel his heart crack just looking into them. He wanted to train with her, but that was almost an impossibility. When you're an apprentice, you'll do what your mentor says. There's no guarantee that you'll be put with your friends.

Goldenheart snapped his brain out of it. She leaped in front of him with lots of energy. "I already know that you're a great fighter Shadowpaw! I can't wait to test your skills!"

Shadowpaw got that awkward feeling he'd always get when with her. She was a warrior, he liked her -sort of-, and she knew way more than he did. The awkwardness was closing in on him. Emeraldpaw was his age making it easier for him. There was a huge age difference going on here.

"Um… Great! I'm excited!" Shadowpaw said trying to act like he was excited. Goldenheart didn't notice his false-enthusiasm.

They set off towards the rock and they were simply chatting. Nothing better to do after all. The clearing was through High Trees and Sonicwind made sure to steer clear of the river. The lush, green leaves finally gave way to reveal the clearing with the tall rock's shadow looming over the three of them. There was what looked like a sandy battlefield on the other side with a few boulders dotted on it to provide more of a landscape that could be potentially used in battle. Goldenheart jumped onto a boulder and looked down at Shadowpaw.

"Sonicwind, can I battle him first?!" demanded Goldenheart.

"He's my apprentice! I should get the honor of fighting him!" Sonicwind replied.

"Let's have Shadowpaw decide," Goldenheart suggested. Their eyes were directed to Shadowpaw and waited for his answer. He knew already who he wanted to battle.

"Sonicwind," Shadowpaw boldly replied.

The deputy grinned and stepped onto the sandy ground and sheathed his claws. Goldenheart jumped off of the rock with disappointment. She gazed at the two of them. Sonicwind positioned his tail to help him to have perfect balance. Shadowpaw noticed and did the same. They stared at each other in silence for a time. Finally, the words Shadowpaw was waiting for rolled off of the deputy's tongue. "Attack me."

Shadowpaw nodded to his opponent and sheathed his claws. If a fight was wanted, a fight it shall be. "Very well." He dashed between the boulders left and right knowing that Sonicwind was going to dodge. Which way was the question. When he was close enough, he swatted at Sonicwind's pelt. The silver-blue pelt vanished and Shadowpaw lightened his step on his paws preparing to jump away. Sonicwind returned only behind him and used his tail to knock the apprentice off of his paws. Shadowpaw was in the dirt with the breath already knocked out of him.

"You're assuming my next move. Never assume in combat. Results can be disastrous if things don't go according to plan. Try again."

Shadowpaw stood up and shook the dust and sand off of his pelt. Try again? Those words sounded like the words he'd hear and see on the screen of a video game when he lost. If there was one thing he hated, it was losing. Especially to Sonic.

A fire lit within his chest and he coiled through the rocks with the speed of a snake to make his next move. Sonicwind watched carefully. The deputy sprang on a boulder and gracefully pushed off of the rock and flew like an eagle towards the apprentice. Shadowpaw ignored his amazement by his boldness and rolled to the left. Sonicwind landed on his paws perfectly and without injury. Shadowpaw realized why the deputy was jumping. Sonicwind was trying to test to see how Shadowpaw would react to attacks where his opponent isn't on the ground. Shadowpaw's mentor continued to dash from rock to rock and would block off all forms of escape. Shadowpaw knew he had to do something. The black apprentice turned tail and ran to another rock. He used every one of his leg muscles to spring into the air and try to land on his mentor.

 _Tail is off-balance._

Shadowpaw missed and landed on the rock awkwardly. He let out a wail of pain and Sonicwind stopped abruptly.

"Shadowpaw! Are you alright?!" asked Sonicwind.

"Y-Yeah…," Shadowpaw answered.

"You need to make sure that you know how you're going to land. Make sure you have a balanced tail to help you to balance on the rock. Claws won't work on the smooth surfaces of these rocks. You'll either fall off or end up in the heap on your rear end. Wanna keep going?" asked Sonicwind after explaining.

"YES!" Shadowpaw growled.

"Enthusiasm… I love it…," Sonicwind said with a smirk.

They were facing each other and ran straight towards each other. This time, Sonicwind was testing brute strength. Shadowpaw knew he had the disadvantage. He was a new apprentice being tested against a warrior when it came to muscles. Shadowpaw did his best despite how small he still was.

They pushed against each other head-to-head in a relentless battle. Whoever could knock the other over won in strength. Shadowpaw could feel his paws begin to slip. He shoved his claws further into the ground. He wasn't going to lose this time.

"G-Give up! Trying to win against me is futile!" Sonicwind hissed.

"N-Never!"

Goldenheart was watching. Her eyes were wide with wonder and anticipation. Her fur was fluffed up to twice its size. She looked ready to spring and was chanting Shadowpaw"s name in her head.

Shadowpaw gave a burst of force that inched Sonicwind across the ground almost. Sonicwind regripped the ground unable to believe the strength of his apprentice. He came up with a solution and smirked. Within a second, he vanished again. Shadowpaw nearly lost balance again. He looked around.

The wind picked up. A small twister formed around him. A blue twister. It was Sonicwind. The deputy trapped Shadowpaw with his speed. Shadowpaw looked frantically around as Sonicwind's claws attacked him every second. There one moment, gone the next. Shadowpaw could only see the claws when they attacked. They were like lightning!

 _Lightning._

Shadowpaw got an idea. He waited. His eyes scanned the twister. Finally, he got attacked again. This time, Shadowpaw was faster. He clamped his teeth down on Sonicwind's paw and stopped the deputy. The apprentice didn't let go. He ran towards the blue tom and bowled him over. With his front paws, he pinned the warrior down. Sonicwind huffed. He was going to say something. When he was going to say it, he couldn't. His jaw was open, but nothing filled the silence. Goldenheart was stunned. The apprentice beat the deputy. All the authority Shadowpaw had felt from Sonicwind had vanished. Now, it was he who had the authority and towered over Sonicwind. He enjoyed it. Sonic would never beat him again.

After savoring his moment of victory, he released the warrior from his grip. Sonicwind stood. He had a few minor bruises but nothing serious. Shadowpaw looked like he was put through the workout of his life. Goldenheart squealed as Shadowpaw looked back over to her.

"You were great! What's your secret?! No cat in the forest has ever been able to defeat Sonicwind! NEVER!"

Shadowpaw was flattered. He still didn't answer her. However, he did have a question. It couldn't be answered by any mortal cat. Sonicwind. Looked to his apprentice almost in shame and began to walk off through High Trees to get back to the camp. Shadowpaw followed close behind.

"Listen, it's not my fault I won! I'm sorry that I damaged your pride!" Shadowpaw told his mentor.

Sonicwind looked over. It wasn't the fact that he lost. It was the fact that Shadowpaw did too well. There wasn't much to teach him. If every apprentice was like Shadowpaw, there wouldn't be mentors. Sure there were some points that needed to be sharpened for Shadowpaw but they could easily be fixed. Sonicwind brightened a little when he remembered Doubletail when he was an apprentice.

"Oof!" cried Doublepaw as an apprentice. He was trying to do a new move that Sonicwind had taught him. However, he was too slow and flew forward. He landed hard on his paws and fell onto the ground. Dust flew everywhere and got into Sonicwind's eyes. He ran through the dust and help Doublepaw to his paws.

"Hey buddy, are you alright?" asked Sonicwind.

"I-I think so… What happened? What did I do wrong?" asked Doublepaw.

"You didn't move quick enough. Try to land lightly on your paws if you know they'll dodge. Make sure that your tail is positioned correctly. Flex those legs to show off how fast you really can go to catch up to your enemy! Be like a bird…," Sonicwind explained.

"Do you want me to do it again?" asked Doublepaw.

"Yes. I'll take my position over there. Just do it when you're ready," Sonicwind told his apprentice.

Doublepaw focussed. He began a run and jumped just enough to land on Sonicwind's back. Sonicwind sidestepped out of the way. Doublepaw was ready. He landed neatly on his paws. He didn't take any damage at all. "I did it Sonicwind! Did you see how I made that comeback in the air?! Now I've mastered the air comeback!" Doublepaw said proudly raising his chin.

The only one more proud was Sonicwind.

Sonicwind came back to reality. Those days with Doublepaw were gone. Doublepaw was now a warrior by the name of Doubletail. Now there was Shadowpaw. The apprentice who already knew everything. There was no pride in teaching someone as special as him. There was almost no point. He took out Roseheart as well. There was nothing he couldn't do. All of his power was gone because he was weaker than his own apprentice. The only one who would be strong enough to take out Shadowpaw would be Knucklestar.

Sonicwind shook his head. Pointless or no, he was still a mentor. He asked for the job of being Shadowpaw's mentor. Because he asked for it, he was going to do it. He straightened up and smiled to Shadowpaw. "You were really great. It takes a lot of strength to take me out! However, tomorrow's going to be fun for you. You don't know how to hunt, do you?"

Shadowpaw stopped. He thought. "No. I don't know how to hunt."

Well, that was one thing he would have the pleasure of teaching him. The only thing he'd feel prideful about as a mentor ever again.

They padded into the camp. The cats all around them looked at Shadowpaw. The apprentice looked exhausted. The dawn patrol was already back. Emeraldpaw was resting in the apprentice den when she heard Shadowpaw walk in with a mouse. He flopped into a nest and heaved a sigh. Emeraldpaw finally opened her eyes. He was exhausted! He looked like he was assigned to run through MoonClan camp and make it out alive and he only managed to escape with his life. Goldenheart was giving him a look of concern from outside the den.

"Shadowpaw, what happened? I thought that it was just battle training!" Emeraldpaw exclaimed.

"It became more than just battle training… You could say that Sonicwind tested me to see what I already knew when it came to battling and…," his voice wavered. He finished his sentence when Emeraldpaw continued to bug him about it. ".and he fought me…"

Emeraldpaw gasped with amazement. "What happened during the fight?!"

"I won."

"You what?"

"I won."

Emeraldpaw stood with her mouth open. She nudged him. "If you won against the deputy, you're more than special. You defeated the blue blur! You should go see Cosmicleaf. She'll fix you up."

"You don't have to act like Vanillaflower with me. I'm fine," Shadowpaw told her as he finished off his mouse. He rested his head on his paws. Emeraldpaw licked his ear and left with only one glance behind. Shadowpaw suddenly realized that he would've felt better if she stayed.

"Shadowpaw!" Cosmicleaf yelled.

Shadowpaw shifted in his nest. His joints still ached as well as his muscles. He was somehow able to convince his body to stand up again and go to meet up with Cosmicleaf.

"What?" asked Shadowpaw wearily.

"Oh my! It looks like that battle did a number on you. Why did Sonicwind have to take you on today? We're going to the MoonCliff," she explained.

Shadowpaw looked up at the sky. It wasn't a half moon. Creampaw guessed what he was thinking as she approached him. "We're going to make up for the last time we didn't go because you couldn't come with us," she explained.

Shadowpaw followed them back through the valley to the MoonCliff with strange, glowing rocks. Once they had reached the pool, they all began to dream with their noses pressed against the purple stone.

Shadow awoke in the clearing he always would. Earthstar sat in the clearing with her head lowered. She mumbled just loud enough for Shadowpaw to hear. "The last time you came, Shadowstrike died…"

The horrible image of Shadowstrike being pulled under the water came back to him. A shudder rippled through his fur. Earthstar looked him into the eyes.

"Listen, we know you've figured out the prophecy. It's a countdown. It is counting down to when the cats of The Valley of Lost Echoes will arise. Their army is large… StarClan can't do anything to stop them. The reason we gave you so much power was to make sure that you'd have a potential chance of beating them…"

"Why did you drag Zaira into this?!" demanded Shadow.

"Zaira? You mean Emeraldpaw? Oh! We happened to notice that she could be duplicated in other universes," Earthstar explained.

"Duplicated?"

"Yes. It's because of her race. When you return to your world, she'll stay in this world and join StarClan."

Shadow looked infuriated. He took a step of defiance and wasn't about to let her send him away without being educated. "That's terrible! After everything that's happened to the two of us, you're going to send us away to never see each other again?! That's just plain mouse-brained! It's stupid! Why are you going to put her through that kind of pain. She expects to be my friend forever. How can she do that if I'm off living as Shadow the Hedgehog while she's up in StarClan feeling miserable because I'm not there?! Explain to me why you had to do it! Why make another version of her when it would only bring her pain?!"

Earthstar tried not to look offended. She heaved a sigh and shook her head. She already knew that this argument was going to come. She gave him a cold, hard stare that held nothing but the truth. "A StarClan cat's job is not to make every single cat who's alive happy. We sometimes see the future and we decide the best ways to do things. Those ways don't always make the living cats happy. However, they find out soon enough that it's what has to be done. We only do what's best for SunClan. Shadow, don't realize that the entire forest is in danger? We knew that you couldn't save the forest on your own so we sent you Emeraldpaw. Every other way we saw without Emeraldpaw, the forest was lost and you died in the Lake of the Lost just as Shadowstrike did! I am protecting you! _**We**_ are protecting you!"

Shadow knew that she was right. It still felt wrong. His anger melted into annoyance that sunk into a deep hopelessness. Why was he not wanting to never see Emeraldpaw again after he left the world of the warrior cats? Did he really care that much?

 _CRASH!_

Earthstar looked around the clearing in bewilderment. Something was happening. It wasn't good. She summoned for Shadow to follow her. They zipped through the trembling trees and raced by frightened starry warriors. She ran to the farthest reaches of StarClan without going beyond the borders. A few other cats met up with her there. Galaxyfern was included. They all stared across the border without giving Shadow even a glance.

"What's happening?!" demanded Shadow.

"The prophecy…," Galaxyfern said quietly.

A black, gooey liquid slid through the grass and began to take a form. The form of dark cats. Screams were contained in their pelts and blood was splattered at their paws. Their teeth were stained red. Shadow never knew he could be so intimidated by a group of dead cats. He took a step back. The other cats didn't move.

"What are you doing here?! This is StarClan territory! Go back to the lake where you belong!" hissed a large brown tom with a scarred muzzle and a deep voice. The cats laughed at the warrior's attempt. A cat stepped forward to show he was the leader. The blackness finally revealed some color and Shadow recognized the face of the large tom. It was Oakstar.

"Your commands mean nothing to us. You know that we are becoming stronger. You'll soon stand no chance against us. We just came to give your little friend a status report in person…," Oakstar answered.

Shadow didn't like the sound of this. Status report? For what? The prophecy? Did he make it move forward all of the sudden? He didn't have to wait long for his answer.

 _1 more to be loved,_

 _9 lives earned,_

 _12 to be lost,_

 _0 learned._

 _The prophecy grows closer still._

 _And for you to die will be their will…_

Oakstar smiled. He stepped over the border into StarClan and no resistance came from the other starry warriors. Oakstar's eyes were directed directly into Shadow's eyes. Shadow only wanted to leave now. Emeraldpaw was the one cat loved. When he realized he didn't want her to be in StarClan without him, she was officially "loved". The black, gooey warriors rippled away and fell back into the Lake of the Lost as a dark, black rain. A hurricane of black rain. Earthstar turned back to Shadow with a serious expression.

"Leave this place. There is nothing more I can tell you. Save the forest before the prophecy is fulfilled," she told him.

 _CRACK! POW! Rumble…_

Shadowpaw woke instantly at the thunderclap. He stared up at the sky. It was the Tribe of the Valley of Lost Echoes returning to their lake. It was only raining over the lake. The rain and thunder made him want to roll up into a ball and cry. This wasn't natural rain. He was going to walk into it to get home.

Cosmicleaf and Creampaw didn't know anything about the rain. To them, it was nothing. To Shadowpaw, it was an army of evil cats laughing at his fear. There wasn't any fog. Just rain.

It was late at night when they returned home. He didn't want to tell Emeraldpaw about the "status update". He didn't want her to get the wrong idea. That was the last thing he wanted. When she greeted him, he walked right past her. He went straight to his den, curled up and tried to sleep. Sonic's voice continued to scream at Shadowpaw.

 _Shadow, wake up! Say something! Do something!_

 _Leave me alone Sonic! I can't forget about what just happened with you yelling in my ears._

 _Shadow?_

 _Wait a second. You can… Hear me, Sonic?_

 _Shadow! I can hear you! Where are you?!_

 _A nightmare. I can't remember how I got here. I think I was hit by one of Dr. Eggman's inventions and got sent here by a group of cat ancestors._

 _Cats? Oh, whatever! Do you remember what happened to you?! I told you not to take on that fleet by yourself! Now look at what's happened!_

 _What has happened? I… I can't remember anything…_

 _My communicator is almost out of power… I can only use it once a day… It was built by Tails… I'll tell you really fast what happened… You de-i-ed t- t-ke o- Eg-ma-'s r-bo- ar-y b- your-elf! So now-_

 _What? I can't hear you!_

 _In our world, you're dead!_

 _Wh-What?!_

…

 _Sonic!_

Shadowpaw sat up with alarm. Dead?! The Ultimate Life Form dead?! How was that possible? Emeraldpaw was looking at him from within her nest. Shadowpaw didn't want to tell her about what had happened.

"Shadowpaw, what's wrong? You were mumbling to yourself in your nest and you ignored me when you came back to the camp from the MoonCliff. (If I spelled it StarCliff at some points, it's also called the MoonCliff. It can be called both). What's going on?! Why are you keeping secrets from me again?! Tell me Shadow!" she cried.

Shadowpaw suddenly realized how much she wanted to know. If she was going to call him Shadow, she was really frightened about something. She was scared for him. What was the point in hiding it?

"Emeraldpaw, the prophecy… The Valley of Lost Echoes… The army is going to come back soon… Really soon… Their faces send fear to my cold heart… Their words make my fur stand on end… They all want to kill me… They're going to kill me…"


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Calming down? Nope. It's not happening. I'm not calming down. Not after all of this. I'm going to work my flank off if I have to! I'm not going to calm down or settle down until the cats in The Valley of Lost Echoes have all been obliterated! No matter what…

The sun was shining high in the sky and a cold breeze began to pick up. The seasons were changing to Fall. These cats call it 'leaf-fall'. I arrived during the end of leaf-bare (winter) so, it was basically 'new-leaf' (or spring) and I've been here through 'green-leaf' (or summer). It's only going to get colder from here. Everything is going to freeze other than the Running Life River and The Lake of the Lost. Emeraldpaw's been peachy about the whole season change. I honestly don't care. Blazepelt finally had those kits after all this time! The she-kits are named Deerkit and Swankit. The young, tawny tom is named Robinkit. Silverflight was proud, but something seemed to pierce him in the heart. Probably because he was remembering his father, Shadowstrike, and his rejection. Now, all there is to do is train. I've got hunting, fighting, and climbing down. There are just a few more things I need to learn before taking my assessment. I'm still a long way away from becoming a warrior. However, the thought of an assessment does make me feel more energized…

"Shadowpaw!" yelled Sonicwind from the clearing. His tail was twitching and his legs were trembling. Knucklestar was standing next to his freaked-out deputy as if he was trying to give Sonicwind some support. It wasn't really doing much if that was the case.

"Sonicwind, why are you trembling?" asked Shadowpaw as he gawked at the deputy's fearful eyes.

"We've decided that it is time to teach you how to swim. I'm sure that it'll come in handy at some point and it'll be good practice for the deputy," Knucklestar explained trying not to smirk at his deputy as he spoke. "Fishing techniques will also be taught during your swim lesson. I shall send another warrior with you other than this cowardly being standing here beside me."

"Who shall be coming with me? Can Emeraldpaw come too?" asked Shadowpaw.

"Actually, I was planning on sending Doubletail with you. He's really smart and is a good mentor. He actually helped Cheesepaw the other day when he fell into Running Life River. I'm sure that you all will have a great time…," Knucklestar said giving Sonicwind another glance. He then burst out laughing. "REALLY SURE!"

Swimming was easy. Paw, kick, paw, kick, paw, kick. It was basically doggy paddling. The two apprentices got it right away. Sonicwind started yelling about being sick and begged Doubletail to let him go see Cosmicleaf. The warrior obviously disagreed because he was enjoying his old mentor's fear. It soon got annoying and we told him to shut his big mouth and go for a walk. Sure enough, the deputy shuts up and went for a walk. Fishing was a little more complicated. Why? Because it was all sitting, watching, waiting. Once you see the fish, don't let your shadow fall on it. Once you're sure that you can hook the fish, you claw it out of the water! It is satisfying to catch a fish. It's just really time-consuming.

"Our clan doesn't usually eat fish. However, we tend to rely on fish more during no-leaf because the water in Running Life River will still be flowing all throughout no-leaf in some places. It's really convenient. Don't you think?" asked Doubletail.

Shadowpaw and Emeraldpaw both nodded. Shadow was kind of relieved to know that the fish tasted exactly the same to him as a cat as it did when he was a hedgehog. In his dreams, he was becoming a cat. He no longer thought of himself as a hedgehog. Each time he thinks Shadow, he thinks of a black tom. It didn't matter. He might as well be what he was now.

They strolled back to the camp. Nothing interesting was happening. Nothing. Just cats preparing for the cold weather. Shadowpaw completed every task that was given to him. Evening came in a flash and Shadowpaw found himself sitting under the Skyrock. He was gazing at the stars. Starclan was looking back at him from the stars, but they had no control over what he did. Over what was happening. Over anything.

"Shadowpaw, what are you doing over here?" asked Goldenheart sitting down next to him.

"Looking at the sky. I don't know what I'm supposed to do about everything that's happening. The changing of the season, me progressing to warrior status, and all the visits with the medicine cats to the MoonCliff," Shadowpaw explained.

Goldenheart nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I can see how that might be stressful for you. I still don't see why you're so special. The leader is constantly watching you, Sonicwind wanted you to be his apprentice, and Cosmicleaf has made you into another medicine cat. Although, I guess you are a tomcat to be reckoned with. You beat Roseheart and Sonicwind in a fight. How much better of an apprentice can you get?"

"I think I can get much better. However, I can't help but wonder what kind of warrior I'll be. What my new name will be. If I'll be exactly like Shadowstrike is another thing I've wondered," Shadowpaw stated.

"Shadowstrike?"

 _NO! I didn't say that!_

Shadowpaw's fur prickled, but he tried to keep it under control. Goldenheart couldn't know about him. She also couldn't know about herself. Just because they were mates in a previous life didn't mean that it was supposed to happen in this one. Then again, the possibility was still there. If something were to happen to Emeraldpaw, them becoming mates was a possibility. "Um… I heard about him from Knucklestar. He told me that he was a very strong and honorable deputy."

"He probably was. I don't know. I've never met him. He probably was very handsome, though. Have you met him in Starclan?!" she asked excitedly.

"Um… I'm not allowed to talk about my visits to the MoonCliff."

Goldenheart sighed with disappointment. "Right… I suppose that you're right. I don't know what I was thinking. You have your secrets and I have mine. I guess, in some ways, we're the same. I feel like I know you from somewhere. For the very first time I saw you, I felt like we were meant to be best friends. I just… don't know why you seem so familiar…," Goldenheart said. As Shadowpaw stared into her eyes, he thought he saw pain… The pain of losing Shadowstrike in a past life. Why did he feel like he should be there to comfort her? Say something that'll make all the pain go away.

"Let me tell you something. You're like a leaf. A leaf that reflects the light of the sun to all the other dull and boring leaves. We all are the other leaves. You're the light… You always make us feel better… I can understand why they named you Goldenheart. However…, I think that Brightleaf suits you better," Shadowpaw told her.

Like the gleam of a rainbow, her eyes shimmered. More beautiful than the cat claw moon. There wasn't a word in the world that could possibly describe what she was feeling.

"That was the first time someone had ever said something so nice… Yet, it feels like I've heard that a million times before…," she said. There wasn't a second that went by before she turned with a half sad and half sentimental emotion. Shadowpaw wasn't sure of what he had done. What feelings had he created?

He realized he loved her as a friend. He would die for her a million times. She would never meet the cats within the Lake of the Lost. She was too pure and innocent. Why did StarClan have to bring her back?

 _When love is blind_

 _and 9 lives to find._

 _12 predicts it's closer in time_

 _and none learned of the hero so fine._

This time, the voice sang out like the prophecy was supposed to be a song. The song echoed in Shadowpaw's head and this time, it didn't hurt. When love is blind…

 _Like a million angels…_

 _That flew from the sky._

 _That didn't want to die._

 _Where did they go…?_

 _They'll never know…_

"I'll never know…," Shadowpaw repeated as he headed back towards the apprentice's den. The song didn't go away until he was well asleep with Emeraldpaw within close eyesight. Emeraldpaw… Goldenheart…

Sonic's voice didn't appear tonight. He rested peacefully as he remembered all the delicious fish he had caught. The tangy scent of fish was heavy on his whiskers as he trotted back to the camp in his dream. Dropping the fish onto the fresh-kill pile, he glanced over towards the warrior's den.

 _A warrior…_

Suddenly, a dark figure arose silently and subtly from behind Shadowpaw. "Who's there?!" Shadowpaw demanded as he flipped around to be greeted by a shadow cat with red, fiery eyes. It bowed its head.

"I mean no harm, Shadowpaw. I was sent by StarClan. They call me… No. It's not important what they call me," the dark cat-like shadow explained. Each time he spoke, the fire in his eyes flickered and danced in a wild fashion, before calming down when he stopped speaking. Shadowpaw sat onto the stony ground, intrigued.

Shadowpaw bowed his head to the warrior. "What is it that StarClan requests of me?"

"A noble warrior you shall be, young one. Your respect for StarClan is truly admirable. However, I don't come bringing good news. I never come bringing good news. StarClan created me to be neither pure nor corrupt. I was a messenger for both the evil and the good. The cats the dwell within the Lake of the Lost crave your life and blood more than any other. They're requesting more blood from MoonClan. Scourgestar met an undeniably terrible fate, but he was the one who chose it," the dark messenger explained with a dark tone. A shiver ran down Shadowpaw's pelt.

"What are you saying…?"

"Scourgestar is dead."

Shadowpaw stepped back with a look of terror and shook his head. Scourgestar was dead? It couldn't be! He was too smart! Too proud to possibly-! But then again, if The Valley of Lost Echoes required it, it was it that they'd get.

"How many lives did he have?" Shadowpaw asked.

The dark, shadow warrior looked to the ground. That usually wasn't a good thing. He mumbled the sentence. "The young leader had seven lives left… There are only four more lives to be lost within the lake. There is only one thing I know for sure about the prophecy. It won't be fulfilled until you're a warrior," he stated. Shadowpaw felt a mild gust of relief. Metalclaw was going to become the new leader, then. Metalstar. The cat who tried to kill him.

Shadowpaw only glanced away for a second. As soon as he had done even that, the warrior had vanished. A screeching sound dragged Shadowpaw from that dream right into a next and he screamed in terror. Scourgestar roared in his ears. Once… Twice… Swatting at Shadowpaw's soul. Four lives needed… Four lives needed… Shadowpaw cried to the nonexistent sky.

"Someone! Someone! StarClan! HELP ME!"

Almost as if someone pressed the pause button, it jerked to a stop. Shadowpaw stumbled from the dream and into yet another. The faded echo of Scourgestar's seventh eerie yowl faded away. It was over. Earthstar sat before him and she focussed her gaze on Shadowpaw intently. Then, she began to cry. Before Shadowpaw could ask, she explained. "Young toms like you should never be burdened by such a fate. Even though you're a hedgehog from another world, you're still just a kit…"

Letting his fur lie down, he approached Earthstar and buried his face in her fur. She rested her tail on his flank for a moment as if to tell him that things would be alright if he stayed patient. Staying nonmoving, he had to wonder where this element of her being like a mother to him was coming from. Probably because at one point she was. She looked to the sky above the sky and he looked too. Rather than stars, he saw galaxies to other worlds. He thought for a moment that he saw his.

"Kit from another world, the time for you to become a warrior is soon. However, a great injustice must first be done…," Earthstar explained.

"Great injustice?"

"Indeed… This cursed prophecy will only bring more heartbreak. With the seasons of cold comes the seasons… of death…," she pointed out. Shadowpaw nodded sadly. She looked down from the galaxies and she gazed into his eyes. "You'll see all in good time. Although, I'm not sure if your clan will be ready when the moment comes… Sonicwind, though strong and courageous, is also, in many ways, still a young kit. He doesn't understand the gravity of this situation…"

"Sonicwind is involved? How?"

"The skies only told us that he's included somehow. This could mean anything. It could mean that he's destined to die, it could mean that he'll become the leader of SunClan, it could also mean that he could turn on you…," she stated bluntly.

Shadowpaw fluffed up his fur and shook his head. He let a growl come from his throat. "Sonicwind is a noble and loyal warrior!"

Earthstar nodded and raised her tail for silence. "I just said that I didn't know what the skies were telling me. Galaxyfern hasn't heard anything serious about the future, but nothing is certain. Stay on your guard. If you should act carelessly, the darkness may swallow you up. It may not be a prophecy, but they're words of a friend. I say these to keep you safe…"

Shadowpaw looked to the ground and nodded. He turned and as if it were magic, he became a hedgehog for a brief moment. He looked to the sky and he saw his world. The world he once knew… "I wasn't brought to this place to fail. When I'm done… you'll be so proud that you won't even remember that I was once a kit."

Earthstar smiled slightly and her eyes warmly gazed into his. All of the other cats within StarClan watched him leave. Their battle cries filled the air and Shadow thought about what he meant to them. He was leading them into battle. And they followed.

Waking up in his nest, he yawned and glanced over to see if Emeraldpaw was awake yet. He saw her sitting outside of the medicine den with an annoyed look. That could mean two things. One, she had the dream too and was going to tell Earthstar. Two, she had a thorn in her paw. Based on her face, she had a thorn in her paw.

Trotting across the clearing after snagging a mouse from the fresh-kill pile, he playful stepped on her paw and she hissed. Shadowpaw looked at her with this amused look. "Oh-no! I stepped on your paw! I hope I didn't hurt you or anything…"

"You know how they say that curiosity killed the cat? It wasn't curiosity. It was sarcasm," she retorted as she licked her paw. Sure enough, there was a bleeding wound in her paw. Within the bleeding wound was a thorn. She hissed when her tongue came into contact with the thorn. "COSMICLEAF!"

Creampaw dashed outside and looked over to Emeraldpaw. When she saw the blood, she raced back into the den frantically. "Cosmicleaf! Emeraldpaw's bleeding!"

Suddenly, a white blur shot past Shadowpaw and went straight to Emeraldpaw. Cosmicleaf bit down on the thorn and yanked it out. She pressed a cobweb to the wound and ignored Emeraldpaw's screaming in agony. Shadowpaw snickered at her pain. She growled at him when she wasn't screaming.

"Creampaw, please bring me something to prevent it from being infected," Cosmicleaf commanded.

Creampaw nodded and retreated back to the medicine den. She came back with a mouthful of marigold. Cosmicleaf nodded her praise to Creampaw. Shadowpaw also looked impressed with Creampaw. "She's about to become a full-fledged medicine cat, right? It's about time for her to get her full name from StarClan?" he asked as he gazed at the cream-colored she-cat.

Creampaw nodded proudly. She tried to act calm, but her excitement was easily detected through her swishing tail of excitement. Shadowpaw smiled.

"My little apprentice isn't so little anymore! She's got amazing skills. However, there's still more she has to learn," Cosmicleaf explained.

Creampaw sat up with her ear pointed to the tunnel. "I smell fear… I hear frantic footsteps… Camoflight! Diamondwing!" she cried as she bounded towards the scent and sound.

"What's wrong?!" Emeraldpaw demanded.

Before an answer could come, Camoflight barged into the clearing and looked frantically around. He sprang to the top of the Skyrock and shouted to every cat to gather. Even Robinkit, Swankit, and Deerkit weren't stopped as they ran out to see what was going on. Diamondwing was next to burst out from beneath the bush. She ran up next to Camoflight. Knucklestar approached the Skyrock with Sonicwind.

"Camoflight! Diamondwing! What's the raucous all about?!" Knucklestar demanded with a loud, booming voice. Every single living soul in the camp fell silent.

Camoflight swallowed down the fear that had created a huge lump in his throat. With all the force he could muster, he cried three words. "Scourgestar is dead!"

Gasps of horror and fear rippled through the clan. Knucklestar shooed them off of his rock and took their place. He looked to the sky and then slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them, he turned to Diamondwing. "How was this fate brought upon the leader of MoonClan?"

"The Lake of the Lost cats! It was horrifying!" she cried.

More gasps and cries were heard among the clan. Shadowpaw heard Goldenheart try to get the kits back into the nursery with Blazepelt. Silverflight quivered in terror because somehow, he knew. He remembered something… It was clear in his eyes. He mumbled something inaudible under his breath. Shadowpaw saw. Shadowpaw saw his older counterpart. His yowl of terror and pain as he was dragged into the Lake. Shadowstrike…

Knucklestar regained control. His booming voice silenced the clan once more. "Describe to us what happened. I'm quite certain there's more to this story… Plenty more…," he said.

Camoflight nodded. He stepped forward. "He didn't touch the water…"

Alarm shot through my fur. What? That's never happened before. A cat from The Valley of Lost Echoes couldn't cross over into the living world. A voice rang in his ears.

 _Unless if the barrier keeping them within the lake is getting weaker…_

The prophecy! It was close enough to be fulfilled, that they could easily swipe at anyone who got too close. The clan began shouting at each other. How it was impossible and what it could mean. Silverflight's lip quivered.

Diamondwing silenced everyone this time. "Scourgestar was giving thanks to that evil tribe… He got too close to the water… A bloodstained claw rose out of the water and slashed at his muzzle! It clawed almost half of his face off in one swipe!" Diamondwing screamed. But it didn't end… It just got worse… "He stumbled away from the pool. He screamed and cried! The MoonClan cats panicked and abandoned their leader! They ran far off into the woods! Scourgestar stayed… A dark cat rose from the pool and said… 'A deal's a deal and a war is a war… You promised your loyalty, so give us your life!' Frightened, Scourgestar crawled away from the sound. But, it was everywhere. Because he was blind from his own blood, he slipped and fell… And… that was it…," Diamondwing finally finished.

The scent of fear was strong on the rest of the clan cats. They trembled and huddled close together. Sonicwind slowly exhaled. "Anything else?"

Camoflight decided that the wait for the truly bad news was over. "They knew we were still watching. The dark warrior called to us. It said that its next and last victim would be of SunClan blood and no other…"

 _The first and with last…_

 _And our lust for blood…_

 _Will drown in the past…_

 _And the Lake will flood._

A mighty paw from Shadowpaw struck the ground. He raised his voice above the crowd of terrified cats who were racing around with Sonicwind trying to calm them with Knucklestar. "THEY CAN CROSS TO THE LIVING WORLD!"


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"What do you mean, they can cross to the living world?!" Roseheart demanded with her pink fur bristling.

Shadowpaw got the harsh or terrified stares of those around them. He readied his voice and explanation. "Don't you see?! They played MoonClan for fools! Now their leader is dead! They are raising a big enough army to come out of the lake to claim the lives of all the living souls to become the master race. We need to defend ourselves… We need this to STOP. SunClan can't be taken by these mouse-brains because we're stronger than them! We're better than them! The Lake of the Lost will NEVER have any of us!" screamed Shadowpaw as he smacked his paw against the ground.

By hearing his speech, some of the cats stood to their feet with a refreshed expression. "He's right! We won't lose!"

Sonicwind sprang from the Skyrock and landed beside Shadowpaw with his signature Sonic grin. "You'd bet. Besides, I've got she-cats to please!"

"Sonicwind!" screamed Roseheart.

"We'll follow you to the end, Sonicwind," Acorntail stated with Dawnpaw at her side.

Knucklestar stood tall in the morning light. His fur gleamed red and his MoonClan-colored eyes scanned the clearing. Deerkit gazed at him with fearful and proud eyes as her brother and sister sprang on the scattered leaves. She squeaked a comment. "You'll protect us, right? Shadowpaw will keep us safe! Sonicwind too! But especially Knucklestar! He's the greatest cat in the forest!"

Blazepelt smiled down upon Deerkit and Silverflight stood to his feet and left the clearing. He tried to keep his gaze away from his kits and Blazepelt, but he couldn't help but look back. A knot formed in his stomach as he forced to shut his eyes once more before dashing out of the clearing. Nobody other than Shadowpaw saw him leave.

"Everyone, we won't let them believe that they've won. We're going to stand strong and show them who the leaders of this forest are! This means that we must train… We must train for the time where they rise up to defeat us, so we beat them down! Shadowpaw, I'm letting you scout the area. See if there are any MoonClan cats on our territory! Sonicwind, I want you to get together all of the apprentices and kits to train them. Everyone needs to be ready," Knucklestar commanded.

Sonicwind nodded and began to round up the kits and excited apprentices. Shadowpaw dove under the bush at the entrance of the camp. He only just began to crawl out of the bush when he heard Jetstorm say something.

"Hey, Sonicwind…," Jetstorm said to Sonicwind slowly. He continued before getting a reply. "Where'd Silverflight go?"

With those words, Shadowpaw knew where to look first. If he was right, then there wasn't much time. He saw Silverflight's face. It was the face that said that he wouldn't come back. Shadowpaw knew that face too well from his previous life as a hedgehog. But would Silverflight really go so far as to-? No. He couldn't.

Shadowpaw went racing through the trees. He wished that he didn't know the route so well, but he knew it too well. Sprinting down a fog-covered path, he felt only dread run through his fur. He called out to the silver tom. "Silverflight!" When no response came, he only became even more sure that he was there.

Finally, after an eternity of running, he came crashing through a shrub and stumbled into a clearing. Looking up, he saw Silverflight looking his direction in pure terror. He raised his fur to look threatening, but Shadowpaw saw through this. He was scared. They both were. Neither of them wanted to be there.

"What are you doing here, Shadowpaw? Here to make me suffer from my past even more? Is that it?" Silverflight questioned. He gazed down at the lake and its haunting ripples. Shadowpaw could almost hear the waves themselves screaming.

The air in the area was drowned of all life. With every breath that was sucked in, you'd only need to breathe more until you eventually suffocated. It choked the little bit of life from Silverflight's eyes and fear became non-existent. He was like a zombie or a machine that stood without feelings. Just an objective that couldn't be easily overridden.

Shadowpaw flattened his ears as he stepped forward towards a life-drained Silverflight. "No! I'm here to save you! You can't just give up on everything! Not like this! There's still so much in for you! You're a warrior in SunClan. You have three kits and an amazing mate. Why do you want to abandon that?!"

Silverflight remembered them and looked to the ground. His eyes still looked dead inside. The water began to ripple in the lake as black claws came slashing up from the water. When Shadowpaw grew afraid, Silverflight felt more inclined to do it.

"WHY?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" screamed Shadowpaw at Silverflight.

"The future depends on your prophecy being fulfilled. The moment that The Lake of the Lost said those words, I knew they wanted me. I knew it all along. I always knew I was a traitor to our clan. I'm disobeying Knucklestar by doing this. However, I don't want to run from my past anymore. The only way I can make a difference…," he stopped a moment to gaze at the frozen paws in the lake. They awaited for him to come close enough. Silverflight continued. "The only way is to face it. I can't face it any better than this! My father is in this pool… My mother is dead because of me. I shouldn't even exist! But, if there's a chance for me to make it up to them…, I'll do anything. Shadowstrike, if this is the only way to appease your soul of all of your anger, then so be it. I want to apologize… One… last… time."

With those words being said, he splashed his paw into the dark water. All of the claws moved towards him as they began to drag him down. However, this time, unlike many times before, he didn't scream. He didn't resist. Without a word, he was dragged into the lake. Shadowpaw didn't even know it was happening. It was over in a flash. The sound of laughter filled the air to replace its life-draining effect. Claws splashed in the water a few times more before diving beneath the surface. When it was far too late and the sound of slashing claws faded, Shadowpaw called out as loud as he could in despair. "SILVERFLIGHT!"

No response ever came.

His tail drooped as he realized that he did nothing to stop Silverflight. Did he really do what he thought was best? Would Silverflight get what he was looking for by doing that? Surely by sending yourself to the enemy would be the last way to help yourself. By taking himself to the enemy, he really was what he said he was. A traitor. What an idiot.

"So, that's it then… What? No rhyming in my mind to upset my head?! I failed to save his life! He came and went in less than a heartbeat! All because he thought it would amend the relationship between his father!" Shadowpaw yelled to no one in particular. Then he tilted his head towards StarClan. "WHAT ABOUT YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO KEEP US SAFE!" He collapsed onto the ground. He didn't want to be the bearer of the bad news. The choice was thick. Lie to the whole clan about Silverflight or break the news on the same day that they figured out about Scourgestar.

"They'll never have to know… He disappeared and never returned. He got white tail and turned to flee. He'll finally be what he is in the eyes of the clan… A traitor…," Shadowpaw finally said to himself.

The trip back wasn't any better. Leaving was probably the best part of the journey. He sulked through the trees as the sun flew over his head. It began to sink into the trees and by this time, Shadowpaw had sulked all the way to Running Life River. He sat before the water and stared into it. Little fish were swimming around in the river, but he didn't care to catch any. His stomach growled, but he didn't want to eat anything. Silverflight was still fresh in his mind. He thrust a paw deep into the river and felt the water rush through his fur. The fish scattered and Shadowpaw just sat there with his paw in the river. He waited for a sign. A prophecy. Anything. Nothing ever came.

"It was all pointless… It was all my fault! I should've done something! I'm so stupid!" he hissed. Pacing back and forth next to the river calmed him a little. The sound of the peaceful water did ease his bewildered mind. Three more would die in the lake. The river didn't seem to care. It just continued to run on into the horizon. Shadowpaw's ears twitched in the direction the river ran. Without thinking, he began running. Running along with it.

Rocks and rapids picked up as he continued on. Shadowpaw burst out of the SunClan border and sprinted on into unknown lands. The river never once stopped. Sometimes it emptied into a lake or another river. Sometimes Shadowpaw would have to choose which river to follow. With each paw step he took on his journey, he felt more alive. He ran with the river. He ran with the fishes. He ran with life surging through him. Night fell and he finally stopped. Looking up at the moon, he turned around and sprinted back towards camp.

Somewhere around midnight, he came crawling back into camp. Completely famished, he trotted over to the fresh kill and plucked a thrush from the top. Feathery, but satisfying. Stalking towards the apprentice's den, he heard the sound of the rippling energy from the Running Life River. It sang to him. It screamed at him. It said something and continued on. It would continue to continue until the end of time.

 _Like a river flows,_

 _3 more still run like us._

 _When 9 lives all glow,_

 _And 2 shall make the fuss._

 _Yet even through the night,_

 _And even through the fight,_

 _None of them shall learn_

 _Of a hero who will stand_

 _In a condescending light…_

"That's me, right?" asked Shadowpaw to the sky. StarClan watched from afar. Their fear slowly rising as The Lake of the Lost grew larger and the Valley of Lost Echoes gained more warriors. Earthstar bowed her head in respects to Shadowstrike and Silverflight. Nothing more could be done.

 _Shadow!_

 _Sonic, shut up. I wanna sleep in my nest…_

 _A nest? Shadow, nests are for birds!_

 _They're for cats too. What's up?_

 _Well, nothing much. Silver was asking about you the other day. He wanted to know if you had woken up yet. He also said that he missed not having someone around to kick him in the head._

 _Well…, the Silver in this world is dead. Silverflight drowned in a lake because of him being a stupid traitor with daddy issues._

 _Oh… So, that's what's been up with you? That's depressing…_

 _I know, right?_

 _Well, I've gotta go. Amy's going to go crazy if I don't take her to the mall._

 _Okay. Bye, Faker._

 _Goodbye, Shadow the Emohog._

Walking into the apprentice's den, Shadowpaw glanced over and saw Emeraldpaw again. He hadn't seen her since she had the thorn in her paw that morning. She was asleep in her nest. Her ears were flattening and her fur was fluffing up in her sleep. Claws flashing out of their sheathes and retracting again and again as she ran through an imaginary nightmare. Sympathy surged through Shadowpaw's fur as he slowly made his way towards his nest. "You'll be free from those nightmares soon. I'll make sure of that."

A dreamless night went by and Shadowpaw awoke to Emeraldpaw yanking at his scruff. He hissed harshly as he jerked away from her powerful set of jaws. "WHAT?! Instead of jerking me awake, you could try 'Good morning?'"

"There's no time for that! There's nothing good about this morning! Silverflight's dead!" Emeraldpaw retorted in a whisper. Although, the whisper sounded so loud to him that it was amazing none of the other apprentices woke up.

"I know that! I saw it yesterday… I tried to stop him, but it all happened too fast. Believe me, I'm trying to keep up with all of the death, but I am just one apprentice being given the universe," Shadowpaw explained. He was no longer really upset about it, but he was really annoyed by the fact that he just stood there in fear.

Emeraldpaw didn't accept his argument. "I don't care! You should've tried harder! How are we supposed to tell the clan that Silverflight is dead?! How are we supposed to tell Blazepelt that you stood and watched as he was taken and drowned in the lake?! How are we going to explain to their kits… that their dad isn't coming back?" she asked with seriousness on her face.

Shadowpaw backed away. He never thought of it that way. Lowering his head a little, Shadowpaw made a decision. "I think we should tell Blazepelt. We'll have her decide what to tell the kits about Silverflight. She deserves to know."

Emeraldpaw nodded and left the apprentice's den. According to the sun, it was early in the morning. The clan cats never learned about how to tell time. They only said things like moon-high, sun-high, and stuff like that. Shadowpaw watched a snowflake drift to the ground. Leaf-bare was here and the sun was just barely visible on the horizon because it was so early. Apparently, it didn't matter at all to Emeraldpaw about whether if it was hailing basketballs or blowing down trees outside in the dead of winter. She was going to get what she wanted and she was going to be heard. Shadowpaw both liked and hated that part of her.

She looked into the nursery and nudged Blazepelt awake. The purple she-cat shifted slightly and looked up to see Emeraldpaw. Her eyes fell to the ground and she seemed to know already what Emeraldpaw was going to say. "He's gone. I know. My nightmares told me… I could read his face…," she said. Tears welled in her eyes. "Just leave… I can't handle hearing the news ever again. StarClan might've given me their pity, but I refuse anyone else's. Please…"

…

"I'm sorry," Emeraldpaw stated as she dragged Shadowpaw away. Without another word, she disappeared to the apprentice den.

Shadowpaw's ears twitched with regret. He could hear StarClan's worry. They were sharpening their claws on the sky which created long orange clouds that were reflecting the light from the sun that hadn't yet risen. The dusk was ominous. A few of the warriors were already out with their apprentices. There was never a moment when everyone in the camp was all asleep at the same time. Some had night patrols or guard duties and slept during the day. Camoflight strolled casually into the clearing looking beat. Being a spy for a clan must be hard. For him and Diamondwing both. Not wanting to return to his den, Shadowpaw plucked a mouse from the fresh-kill pile.

"Shadowpaw, have you heard the news?" Camoflight asked as he sat beside the apprentice. Shadowpaw glanced up with interest.

"Nope. I'm all ears."

Camoflight paused a moment to figure out how he would explain it and then answered. "I know who the new leader of MoonClan is," he answered. "It's not going to be Metalclaw."

"What?!" Shadowpaw demanded as he jerked away from his mouse. Camoflight nodded.

"They changed it last minute. Turns out that they're actually making Darkwind the leader. They said that Metalclaw was too easy to manipulate, so MoonClan overthrew him and they're electing Darkwind to be the new leader. However, they're waiting to send him to the lake because they know it's not safe there. We all must call him Darkstar now," Camoflight said. Mephiles the Dark was becoming the leader of MoonClan. Shadowpaw couldn't even begin to comprehend the evil that was coming ahead.

"So, what happened to Metalclaw?" Shadowpaw questioned trying not to think about MoonClan's new leader.

Camoflight shook his head slowly. "They removed his title of deputy and made him into just a warrior. He was devastated. I'm not sure what they're planning next. I was only there for the clan decision. The tension is rising quickly in that clan…"

"I don't doubt it."

Shadowpaw finished off the last of his mouse and dipped his head. "Thanks for the news, Camoflight. Are you going to be sharing this with the rest of the clan?"

"I'll let Knucklestar decide on whether or not to tell the clan. I just felt like I had to tell someone. Yesterday was a long day for everyone. There was Scourgestar's death, Silverflight's disappearance, and the threat of The Lake of the Lost crossing over to the living world. It's crazy…," said Camoflight. He glanced towards the warrior's den. "I just feel like you'd use this information wisely. Out of all of the cats in this camp, I think you're one of the most responsible."

Shadowpaw looked up at the orange clouds. The sun was rising. StarClan was watching. "I know I'm responsible… But I have too much at the moment. I can keep your secret… but I don't want more than I can handle…"

Camoflight nodded. He let Shadowpaw leave back towards the apprentice den. It was still early and he needed the sleep. Thinking about what he said, Camoflight stood to his paws and made his way towards the tree where the leader stayed. "He says that like the entire forest was riding on his shoulders…"

Overhearing, Shadowpaw lowered his head towards the ground. "That's because… it is."


	11. Chapter 10

"Hey Shadowpaw, I need to tell you something!" Sonicwind called. He trotted into the apprentice den and dragged Shadowpaw out of his nest. Shadowpaw let out a groan.

"Leave me alone, Sonicwind… I'm trying to sleep…," Shadowpaw complained.

"No! I really need to tell you!" Sonicwind growled. He leaned in to whisper Shadowpaw a secret. "I heard… MoonClan made Darkwind the leader and removed Metalclaw from his position as deputy. Isn't that important?!" he whispered frantically.

Shadowpaw rolled his eyes. "I should have stayed asleep. You mouse-brain. Don't you think I already knew that?" Shadowpaw asked.

"Wha-?" Sonicwind asked. He then looked like he was struck by a lightning bolt. "You mean StarClan told you in a dream last night?!"

"Shhhhhh! Nobody can know about my secret. No. Camoflight told me this morning," Shadowpaw snapped. Sonicwind looked slightly disappointed at the somewhat normal reaction.

Rather than getting too worked up about it, Sonicwind simply perked up and began to march Shadowpaw out of the Apprentice's den. "Well, I also came to a very good conclusion this morning. I figured that we should do some training! Then, we can have a race! It'll be great. Emeraldpaw can come too. We're going to get out of this camp and have fun!"

Fun.

Shadowpaw sighed still wanting to simply go back to his warm nest. Snow began to flutter down from the sky and he instantly wanted to sleep more. Why couldn't cats simply hibernate the entire winter? It would certainly be easier than toughing it out without much prey and no plants to hide them all out in the open. The cold didn't really bug him that much. Over the past couple of weeks, Shadowpaw's fur gradually became bigger and more cold resistant.

"What does Knucklestar have to say about our fun? Does he approve? Or should we be doing more training and less fun?" Shadowpaw questioned. He stretched a little and then stood back up again. Before a response came, however…

"Shadowpaw!" a she-cat's voice yelled excitedly as she bowled him over.

"Hi, Emeraldpaw," he simply replied to the black she-cat knocking him to the ground and pinning him down. She grinned bigger than usual.

"I heard that we're going to get to hang out today! Isn't that great, Shadowpaw?!" she demanded hopping off of Shadowpaw for a moment.

Once again returning to his paws, Shadowpaw glanced over to Doubletail. The nimble tom was nodding his approval making Shadowpaw realize that there was no way out of it. It wasn't that he didn't want to hang out with Emeraldpaw. He didn't want to hang out with Sonicwind was the problem.

"Okay then, Emeraldpaw. I guess that means we get to flee from Sonicwind. Just us talking about the world's complications. Fun, right?" Shadowpaw asked giving her a little shove.

Emeraldpaw sighed and shook her head. "I'm taking a break from all of the craziness. I want things to be like the way they were when we were confined to the camp or in the nursery. The universe just had to get itself in danger again, though! We're the only ones who can stop it. Just… not today. I need a break. I heard about Metalclaw and Darkwind. MoonClan can have a hassle about whoever they want to be the leader, but I don't want to be involved. How about, we don't do that? Why don't we… simply talk about the trees? Try to set up Sonicwind with Roseheart just to make him mad? Isn't that what you want to do?"

Shadowpaw realized how sick she was of all of the blood and death. She wanted to live a normal life like any other cat. That realization made him try to forget about the constant prophecies. Yeah. A day off from all of that.

"Well, if you two are done, I kinda want to get going," Sonicwind intervened. He shoved himself between them and began to literally shove them towards the entrance of the camp. Before Shadowpaw or Emeraldpaw could object, they smirked at each other with an idea.

"Yes, sir!" they both chirped as they launched themselves forward and out of the tunnel.

When they left from in front of him, Sonicwind let out a yell of alarm and fell forward onto the ground. Annoyed, he bounded towards the tunnel. Diving through, he looked left and right to find that the two of them had disappeared.

"Oh, come on, guys! Don't tell me you ditched me already!" Sonicwind growled. He huffed and let his tail sag. "Well, if they want to hang out, then who knows? Maybe they'll learn more from each other than from me. I do know though, that because they're friends, they'll have way more fun than I can give them," he reminded himself. Just then, he realized that he had other friends. "Speaking of friends, I should go see Doubletail! He'll hang out with me, I'm sure!"

Racing through the trees with the wind tugging at their whiskers, Shadowpaw and Emeraldpaw ran laughing their hearts out about what just happened. Emeraldpaw's gleaming eyes darted to Shadowpaw. "Did you hear him yell out when he tripped and fell on his face?!"

"How could I not?!" Shadowpaw wondered if he was having way too much fun with that. Well, Sonicwind did say that he wanted them all to have fun!

Drawing to a stop, Emeraldpaw glanced up and saw the giant Soul Rock just before them. It had been a while since she had last been there. Looking to Shadowpaw, she hopped up on top of the rock and closed her eyes. "This is where an ancient tradition would take place. It was called a Gathering. Back in the days where MoonClan and SunClan got along with each other. Those days are long gone now. The energy coming from this rock is extremely immense… Can you feel it, Shadow?" she asked using Shadowpaw's actual name.

Hearing her call him by his old name sent a shiver through his fur. It just didn't feel… natural to him anymore. He knew she wanted to strike something in him. She wanted him to feel how it didn't feel natural. It was almost like she was saying that no one else was allowed to call him by his actual name. Many moments went by before Shadowpaw actually answered.

"I can feel it. StarClan's presence."

"It was almost like… this rock is like us! Don't you think?" she asked getting a little excited.

Shadowpaw? Like a rock? He didn't get it. Rather than simply nod and act like he understood, he gave her a curious glance. "I don't quite follow. What does that mean?"

"I mean… I've always imagined that this rock was placed here by StarClan. It's just like how StarClan placed the two of us here. Don't you think it's amazing?"

He placed a paw on the Soul Rock. It was cold, hard, and smooth. Underneath that cold, hard exterior was a story of how the first appearance was made by StarClan to select the first medicine cat. This rock brought cats and clans together. Now, it was just sitting in the forest. Despite the fact that the rock was sitting there eroding away in a forest, the value was still there. He smiled slowly and felt glad that this rock was here. "It definitely makes you think, doesn't it?"

Emeraldpaw sprang from the rock in a mighty leap. She landed gracefully onto the lush grass. Her tail was raised and swished with amusement. "Shadowpaw, why are you staring like that? Am I just that pretty or something?"

"Er- No. The sun was in my eyes," Shadowpaw quickly lied. Something in himself felt mad that he had to lie about it. What was wrong with him?!

Emeraldpaw saw through his lie anyway and swatted his ear with her paw. "A likely story! I'll bet you were thinking something like, 'Ooooh, look at Emeraldpaw! She flies like a bird in the sky along with my heart which is soaring with the eagles! If only I were actually listening to what she was rambling about rather than thinking about how pretty she is!'. There. Was that it?" she asked with a grin that he couldn't be mad at.

"Not even close," he replied shaking his head in a friendly way. A purr rose from his throat at her mocking imitation.

"Ah, I'll get you next time. I promise that! I guess it's my turn to compliment you. Hmm… Those muscles are so cool! I'll bet you could bust that boulder over there like Knucklestar or Crocscale! Care to try?" she asked when she noticed just how muscular he had become over the many moons.

Shadowpaw lowered himself to the ground as if he were waiting to pounce on his prey. Preparing himself to launch, he stopped himself when he sniffed something else just in front of it. Rabbit! A big, fat rabbit. He realized that the rabbit was way oversized compared to the other rabbits in the area. It was leaf-bare which meant that prey was scarce. Even scarcer was prey with lots of fat on them still. Grinning at his luck, he launched forward and killed the rabbit in one mighty blow. Shadowpaw hung over his kill proudly and lifted it up in his jaws.

"Shadowpaw, you didn't even hit the- Wow! That rabbit is HUGE!" Emeraldpaw exclaimed. She raced up to it and sniffed it. "I had to make sure that it was real because it's big for this time of the year… Rabbits usually only get that big during Greenleaf! Are you going to take it back to the clan? It would be against the rules for us to eat the-" Emeraldpaw was cut off when her stomach started complaining. The scent of the rabbit made her extremely hungry.

Shadowpaw knew it was against the rules, but since when did he ever follow the rules? He went to the Lake of the Lost more than any cat ever had in his clan. There was also fighting a full-fledged warrior in the middle of the camp without a good reason which he got away with without punishment. Surely that stuff was less severe than eating a rabbit. "You want it?"

"Uh… I can't! We'd get in trouble if anyone found out. Knucklestar would get mad at us and probably delay our warrior ceremonies… Not like I know when those are, but I like to think that they're going to be soon," she protested backing away from the rabbit. Her stomach betrayed her once again by rumbling desperately.

"Who said we had to follow the rules. We are completely alone out here. You know, unless if this rock counts as company. Besides, you want it so badly. Do you think I'm going to betray you and tell someone that you didn't serve the clan before your own needs?" Shadowpaw argued.

Emeraldpaw still didn't seem convinced. Rather than waiting for her to object again, he set the rabbit down and sat beside her. "We can share it. That way, if we do get caught, we get to share the guilt and the punishment. Even if you decide not to eat the rabbit, I will." He then bent down and took a bite from the rabbit. "This thing's pretty good. Also, the world didn't explode which must mean we're getting away with this."

Finally, she gave in. Next to Shadowpaw, she began to take large ravenous bites from it. Shadowpaw licked his lips to get the last bit of salty flavor from the rabbit. He let Emeraldpaw dig into the rest of it. He wasn't that hungry anyway. Once she was finished tearing away at the rabbit, she purred loudly and didn't even remember that she was concerned about getting caught.

"Shadowpaw, that was so good! Thank you for catching it for us! Sorry, I didn't leave you some, though…," Emeraldpaw told him apologetically. Her gaze went to the leafy ground.

Shadowpaw shrugged reassuringly. "It's fine. I wasn't that hungry. We should now bury the evidence that we broke the sacred code that everyone is obsessed with."

They dug a hole, shoved the rabbit carcass into it, thanked StarClan and then were on their way once again. As they walked through the trees in the frosty air, they leisurely small talked for a while. Neither of them had any idea where they would or should go. All they did was go on into the forest. Birds were chirping and squirrels were storing away their nuts for the winter to forget where they hid them all. Emeraldpaw seemed to be enjoying herself.

"So, would you call this fun?" Shadowpaw asked at one point.

"Of course! Don't you think this is fun?" she sent back.

Catching up to her slightly faster pace so that they were side-by-side, he nodded in agreement. "I like spending time with you when Sonicwind isn't around."

Emeraldpaw's gaze drifted from Shadowpaw to the sky. They had been gone for a while. Reluctantly, she stopped where she was with a distant expression. "How's Goldenheart been?"

The sudden question almost scared Shadowpaw. The quick transition was what made him concerned. He stopped as well and turned to face her. "What brought this up?"

"It's just that… I don't know what to think about the two of you… I like you, but I don't want to… not if the two of you are-"

Shadowpaw cut her off by approaching her once more. He made sure not to break eye contact. Every little cell in his body had to be sincere for her to believe him. One look away could make her suspect that he was telling her empty words without meaning. "Emeraldpaw."

The distance that was once in her eyes vanished and she looked up to Shadowpaw. Regally he stood before her. She trembled a little at how daunting he was. "I just wanted to-"

"Emeraldpaw, we've been friends since almost the first day I came to this camp. When I came here, Goldenpaw was an apprentice and I was a kit. While she did remind me of someone I once knew, you shouldn't worry about us… because I knew from the start that I would end up with you one day. You are and always will be the one who I think most fondly of. If StarClan doesn't agree with my decision, then they'll just have to taste my fury."

Her eyes shone brighter than the stars. The words she obtained were almost too much for her to take in at once. "We're only apprentices, though…"

"As stated before, who said we had to follow the rules?"

Emeraldpaw smiled shyly and didn't seem conflicted anymore. "Then… I guess it'll be official when we're warriors…," she replied. Quick and light without a second thought, she licked him on the cheek. Shadowpaw froze for a second and it took a second for his mind to realize that this was equivalent to a kiss in his world. While he was still contemplating what happened, she flicked him with her tail playfully. "I suppose that I have to thank you then, Shadow!"

"N-No really… You don't have to thank me for that. We should probably head back to the camp before any other life-changing events happen," Shadowpaw stuttered trying to settle down the butterflies in his stomach.

Emeraldpaw seemed to agree and began to race through the trees back towards the camp. Shadowpaw bolted after her before she could get too far away. "Trying to ditch me now, huh?!"

"The look on your face was just too adorable! I had to see how you would react!"

 _StarClan, did you intend for this to happen?_

Once back at the camp, Shadowpaw found Sonicwind and Doubletail talking about Knucklestar anxiously amongst themselves. The two apprentices trotted up to their mentor.

"Oh! Emeraldpaw! Shadowpaw! Listen, we need you to find some herbs… The medicine cats went to the MoonCliff to give Creampaw her full medicine cat name and they haven't returned from their journey," Sonicwind explained urgently as if he were taking his job seriously for once.

Shadowpaw glanced over at the empty medicine den with worry. "Why? What's wrong with who?"

Doubletail looked to Sonicwind with worry. The deputy sighed to himself. "I knew it was bound to happen to someone sooner or later, but this is as bad as it gets… The both of you must understand the gravity of the situation… Knucklestar has lost a life and is still suffering… from Greenough. Yes, it's early in leaf-bare, but… Knucklestar just isn't as immune to it as he once was, I guess."

"What?! You mean Knucklestar died while we were gone?!" demanded Emeraldpaw.

"That was why I was kind of reluctant to talk about him this morning… He came down with it really bad last night. But that's not what matters at the moment! All of the other warriors are on patrol at the moment! We need you to get catmint!" the deputy told them urgently.

"Catmint?! Where do we get catmint from?!" Shadowpaw asked frantically.

"Twoleg Place is the only place where it grows. In their gardens usually," Doubletail replied.

Shadowpaw's fur bristled at the thought of the Twolegs. He knew them as humans, but his cat instincts told him that they were nothing but trouble. It wasn't like he was really a fan of them as a hedgehog either. But before he could protest, Emeraldpaw shot out of the camp without hesitation.

"Emeraldpaw, wait!" Shadowpaw shouted as he raced after her. Now that she had a reason to be fast, Shadowpaw realized that she was almost as fast as he was. He was finally able to catch up to her when they got to the edge of the territory. She didn't care that the scent markers to mark the SunClan territory were now far behind her. They both hurdled over a Twoleg fence and saw a garden. However, as Emeraldpaw searched through the plants, she found no catmint.

"Not here…," she growled with frustration.

Shadowpaw hopped up onto the fence again. He saw some of the Twolegs playing with their Twoleg kits in one of the yards, but there was no garden there. In another, there was a dog, but then he spotted it. Catmint.

"Emeraldpaw, I found some! Although, you're not going to like what's with it…," he told her.

She jumped up beside him and saw the dog. Instantly, it jumped up onto its rear legs and began barking at them like there was no tomorrow. They exchanged uneasy glances with each other. The two of them slowly made their way down the fence until they were just above the garden.

"Who's going to go down there?" asked Emeraldpaw.

"I'll distract the dog. You can get the catmint."

"Yeah… That's a great plan! Yeah! I'm scared out of my mind, but who cares?! You go first!" Emeraldpaw told him starting to shake from both exhaustion and terror of the dog.

The black apprentice hopped down into the yard and lowered his body like when he was earlier stalking the rabbit. It growled viciously at him before barreling after the helpless tom. Shadowpaw jumped over the dog and sprang off of its pelt to land on the other side of it. The dog whirled around now extremely mad and went loping after him. Shadowpaw cringed at the sight of the slobber flying everywhere and he ducked away. As he ran by, he dug his claws into the dog's leg with satisfaction. Shadowpaw's canine opponent whimpered pathetically before lashing out to bite his tail. It barely missed.

Emeraldpaw finally got the nerves to jump down and snatch some catmint. She stuffed her mouth full of green leaves. It was so tempting to eat them, but she had to remind herself what they were for. Hurriedly, she scurried for the fence again, but the dog saw her and lost interest in Shadowpaw. The black she-cat's tail fluffed up in alarm at the sudden foe that had found its next target.

Shadowpaw shook himself and saw the dog chasing Emeraldpaw. He was simply stalling with the dog before, but now he was ticked off. "That stupid, fox-brained, idiot!" he growled jumping onto the back of the dog and raking his claws into its skin. No matter how high it jumped or snarled, it couldn't shake him off. Shadowpaw bit down hard on its ear and could feel the salty tang of blood trickle into his mouth. He spat it out and dug his claws in again.

The dog at this point was going mad. Savagely, it flung itself into the fence trying to get Shadowpaw off but with no avail. Desperately, it went to the door of the nest and started banging on the door demanding for its owner to come out and stop Shadowpaw.

Emeraldpaw had now finally made it back to the top of the fence. "Shadowpaw, fall back! Get back here!" she shouted to him through a mouthful of catmint.

"I'm not done with this yet!" Shadowpaw hissed through his mouthful of dog fur.

"We don't have time for that! Come on!"

Realizing that it wasn't worth the fight, Shadowpaw let go and sprinted for the fence. The Twoleg came storming out of the nest and snatched the dog's collar to drag it away. Smirking to himself at the dog's bad luck, he sprang up to meet Emeraldpaw. "Okay, I'm here. Let's go!"

Nodding, Emeraldpaw sprang off of the white fence with Shadowpaw beside her. Before long, they were back at the camp with the catmint. Urgently, they raced up to Sonicwind.

"We have the catmint like you asked! Don't ask what we had to do to get it…," Shadowpaw explained wearily. He was huffing and puffing, but it was all worth it, right? They were saving the leader's life!

"Indeed! I must say I'm quite impressed with you," a familiar voice told them.

A blazing red pelt leaped from the special tree and approached the two apprentices. Sonicwind proudly bowed to Knucklestar and Doubletail followed his lead.

"Wh-what's going on?!" demanded Emeraldpaw unsure of what was happening. Knucklestar was _**fine**_?!

The mighty leader snickered at their confusion. He nodded to the two warriors. "You two have done your duties. You are dismissed," he told them. Then, turning to the apprentices he shrugged. "I had to have a little bit of fun, so I apologize. However, the both of you passed my test with flying colors. I knew that the dog was there and that it would attack you. However, I had to test your strength, loyalty, and courage. You've both passed."

"Okay, is there a prize for passing your test?" Shadowpaw asked.

Knucklestar lifted his head and turned towards the apprentice den. "Dawnpaw! Come here for a moment!" he commanded.

The orange ball of fluff shot out of the apprentice's den excitedly. He launched himself towards them and was somehow able to stop once he reached them. "Hi! Roseheart said that you might talk to me at some point about something!"

"Yes, she was correct. I've delayed your warrior ceremony for a little while now and I believe that it is time for you to be a warrior. However, you won't be the only one at your warrior ceremony. You'll have two others sitting on the Skyrock with you. Shadowpaw and Emeraldpaw."

Dawnpaw looked to them with a baffled expression. "Aren't they still a little young to be warriors? Besides, shouldn't Lightpaw and Swiftpaw become warriors before them?"

"Yes, but time is of the essence. I believe that these two need to become warriors. You understand, right?" Knucklestar asked hoping not to have to explain why.

The orange tabby shrugged. "Eh, I don't care. All I'm happy about is that I'm finally going to be a warrior! Hooray! Hooray!"

"W-Warriors…?" asked Emeraldpaw unable to believe her ears.

"Indeed," Knucklestar replied.

Shadowpaw and Emeraldpaw were amazed. They hadn't even been apprentices for very long! It was still a nice feeling. The two of them were basically warriors now.

"Shadowpaw isn't it great?! We're going to soon be warriors! Aren't you excited?!" she demanded hopping around Shadowpaw excitedly.

He didn't feel nearly as excited about this as she was. Shadowpaw looked up at the sun which was now high over their heads. To not worry Emeraldpaw, he nodded. On the inside, he didn't want to become a warrior. Becoming a warrior meant that the countdown to the day when The Lake of the Lost would escape was nearer to completion.

"I wonder what brought Knucklestar to this conclusion…?"


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Emeraldpaw! Emeraldpaw, wake up. The sun is up and all apprentices are required to be awake. Especially the ones who are going to become warriors," Shadowpaw told her nudging her awake. She groaned and forced herself to stand up.

"Shadowpaw…, I was having this terrific dream involving big fat rabbits. They were just like the one from yesterday. You just had to ruin it, didn't you?" the black she-cat complained.

He nodded with amusement at her statement. "Yes, I had to ruin it."

She stood to her feet and almost stepped on Swiftpaw's tail. He lashed it away from her angrily.

"Hey! You'd better watch where you step or else I'll-!"

Shadowpaw shoved himself between Swiftpaw and Emeraldpaw with a stern glare. His death stare drove Swiftpaw back to his nest in fear. "I'll just… get out of the way…," he finished.

"You'd better," Shadowpaw growled.

Lightpaw peeped out at them from under a pile of dead grass which was being used for her nest. She slowly walked out and sat next to her brother. "Swiftpaw…, why are we fighting so early in the morning?"

"Nothing that concerns you, sis. Go back to your nest," Swiftpaw griped.

Lightpaw flattened her ears at him. "You don't have to tell me to go to my nest like I'm a kit! I'm an apprentice now! You don't tell me what to do. Roseheart does!" she snapped.

Swiftpaw rolled his eyes and shoved her over effortlessly. "Oh really?"

"Owwwww! Why did you do that?!" she complained.

"Looks like you need more training, Lightkit," Swiftpaw joked.

"That's not funny!"

Shadowpaw sighed to himself and went out to the clearing. He grabbed a piece of fresh-kill and sat in the shade of the giant tree. Emeraldpaw plucked a mouse from the pile and trotted over. She plopped down and saw the two apprentices growling at each other in the apprentice's den. "I wonder if they know about the warrior ceremony."

"Probably knowing how Dawnpaw blabs to everyone about it," Shadowpaw replied.

"Then if they know about it, they must be mad about us becoming warriors before them. They're older than us and are still apprentices. Don't you think that's… a little unfair?" she questioned.

It only then occurred that they were still supposed to be apprentices for at least another moon or two. Neither of them had even spent a season in the clan. Look at them now! The rookies sent from StarClan becoming warriors before everyone else! "That explains why Swiftpaw was so quick to try and threaten you. He can probably understand why they would choose me, but he has no idea why you would be chosen to advance."

"I don't think I know why I've been chosen to advance…"

"Because StarClan sent you, you get the better end of the stick. They've never seen StarClan. Earthstar never showed her face to them. Galaxyfern never walked in their dreams. We're the special apprentices. We're the ones the deputy begs to hang out with, for crying out loud," Shadowpaw reminded her.

"That's true." Emeraldpaw's ears twitched to the bramble tunnel with interest. Cosmicleaf and Creampaw came walking back through the tunnel. Creampaw had her head held high to show everyone that she had a complete medicine cat name. Knucklestar approached her.

"Hello, and welcome back! Don't worry, absolutely nothing changed here and nobody missed you," the leader joked.

Cosmicleaf knew he was joking and rolled her eyes playfully. "Whatever, Knucklestar. Nobody even remembered who you were when you came back from the MoonCliff with your nine lives," she shot back.

The two of them began laughing and Creampaw looked confused. "What are you two talking about? Isn't that mean?"

"We have faced many experiences and we were just remembering some. So, what may I now address you as?" Knucklestar asked curiously.

"My name is now Creampelt! Isn't it a great name?" she asked. Her brown eyes shimmered as she awaited his response.

Knucklestar smirked at Cosmicleaf. "I'll say it's much better than her name!"

"Knuckleclaw, the warrior who spent a week in the medicine den because he tripped and fell out of a tree into Running Life River. How you became clan leader, I'll never know," Cosmicleaf replied. She purred with victory and directed Creampelt back into the medicine den.

"Of all the trips to the medicine den she had to remember…," he grumbled.

Shadowpaw knew that only time and experience could make a relationship like that. He nudged Emeraldpaw. "Do you remember that one time when you went to the medicine den because you got a thorn stuck in your paw? Your yells in pain and agony were priceless."

"Oh, poor little Shadowkit! Can't speak because he's taking on warriors five times his size!" she retorted. "Couldn't even tell the medicine cat what was wrong with him."

"That was true pain."

Knucklestar approached them just as Shadowpaw suspected he would. Emeraldpaw swallowed the last bits of her mouse. They both looked up to their leader knowing what he was going to say. "When's the ceremony?" asked Emeraldpaw.

"It's good to see that you both are awake. The ceremony will start as soon as the dawn patrol gets back. Although, I'll admit that you two were somewhat of a mystery to StarClan they told me. Well, do you have any questions or do you just go to StarClan when you need something?" he asked casually. Shadowpaw wondered if he detected envy in the leader's voice.'

"What do you mean by we're a mystery to StarClan?" Emeraldpaw inquired.

"They were actually the ones who told me to make you into warriors. Earthstar also told me that you would know why I had to appoint you so soon into your training. Honestly, the fact that they sound like they have more knowledge and power over your life is a little concerning," he replied looking up at the sky.

"Well, I want to help StarClan, so I'm fine with them telling me what to do. Anything is better than failing miserably which destroys the world as we know it. If they do have full control of my life, then I think I'd be in better paws than my own," Shadowpaw remarked.

Emeraldpaw gave him a worried look. "Then… you wouldn't care if they just completely took you over and made you… not you?"

Shadowpaw flattened his ears at her looking offended. "For crying out loud, Emeraldpaw. You need to stop worrying about me so much. Besides, I think you know what I meant."

"Okay! Okay! Don't get so worked up over nothing! I'm sorry. I'll try not to be so concerned. It's not as easy as it sounds!" she snapped swishing her tail across the ground.

Just as she had said that Sonicwind and Doubletail came bounding in through the bramble tunnel. They came racing towards them with prey in their jaws. "Shadowpaw!" Sonicwind exclaimed after he deposited the prey from his mouth.

"Yes?"

Sonicwind sucked in a breath with an irritated look. "I'M NOT LETTING YOU BE A WARRIOR UNTIL YOUR FUR SHINES BRIGHTER THAN STARCLAN!" he hollered ushering Shadowpaw to the other end of the clearing.

"Sonicwind! I was going to groom my fur when I finished talking to-"

"I want no excuses! Use that tongue of yours and lick you useless furball!" the deputy shouted.

"That was harsh…," Shadowpaw complained as he began to lick his chestfur reluctantly.

Emeraldpaw was snickering at the two of them. She smiled up at Doubletail who agreed that her coat was already gleaming. Shadowpaw flattened his ears trying not hold a grudge. Sonicwind was pacing half nervously and half excitedly.

After what felt like moons of licking, Shadowpaw demanded that he be released from the grooming torture of which Sonicwind had previously condemned him to. The deputy gave a brief nod as if he weren't completely satisfied. Once released, Knucklestar jumped to the top of the Skyrock. His gaze swept over the entire clan before making his announcement.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here beneath the Skyrock!" he bellowed loudly.

One by one and little by little, every cat gathered around the rock. Their attention was projected up to Knucklestar who loomed over them casting a regal shadow down across them all. Snowflakes drifted down from the sky sending a certain chill through everyone's fur.

"The time has come for three of our apprentices to be given their warrior names. While it still seems a little early to some, StarClan has specified that Dawnpaw, Shadowpaw, and Emeraldpaw are ready for their increase in rank. May those three please come forward?"

The three of them hopped up onto the Skyrock. Knucklestar looked from the sky to Dawnpaw who was bowed loyally before his leader. "I, Knucklestar, leader of SunClan, to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn," Knucklestar announced. Creampelt beamed at her brother from below and Vanillaflower looked proud of her son. Goldenheart was watching Shadowpaw with big, round eyes. They all waited for the moment to come. Moments, even seconds, away.

"Dawnpaw, Shadowpaw, and Emeraldpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Dawnpaw replied immediately.

Shadowpaw thought about the words. _Always_ uplift the code even if you die? If he said he did agree to those terms, would it end up being a lie? Shaking the thought out of his mind, he replied. "I do."

"I do," Emeraldpaw mimicked.

Knucklestar nodded and closed his eyes. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give the three of you your warrior names. Dawnpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Dawnstripe. StarClan honors your enthusiasm and courage."

Dawnstripe's eyes glowed magnificently and he bowed his thanks to Knucklestar. After licking the leader's shoulder to show respect and Knucklestar rested his muzzle on Dawnstripe's head, it was done. The clan chanted his name.

 _Dawnstripe! Dawnstripe! Dawnstripe!_

Once Dawnstripe jumped from the rock, Knucklestar turned to Emeraldpaw. "Emeraldpaw, you've shown knowledge and strength through your training and your awareness of the best path to take. From this moment on, you will be known as Emeraldwing. StarClan honors your forethought and loyalty.

The same process occurred with Emeraldwing as for Dawnstripe. Her black pelt glistened brighter than Shadowpaw had ever seen it. Snowflakes drifted down from the clouds dotting her pelt. SunClan chanted her name over and over.

 _Emeraldwing! Emeraldwing! Emeraldwing!_

She jumped down to meet her clanmates when Shadowpaw realized he was the only one left sitting on the rock. Knucklestar looked down at him almost perplexed. Was he the hardest of them all? Slowly, Knucklestar began. "Shadowpaw, you have shown power and strength as well as kindness to the entire clan throughout your time here in SunClan. I'm sure almost all of us can remember the day you first came… And we all believe you are worthy of the title of which you are about to receive. Shadowpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Shadowfire. StarClan honors your strength and leadership.

Shadowfire felt a shock zip through his fur. He shuddered. The prophecy could come at any time now! Because he became a warrior, the time came closer. The lake would one day flood… Shoving the thoughts away, he tried to retain the pride in becoming the warrior he had been waiting for so long to become. However, as the clan chanted his name, he only felt dread.

The ceremony was soon over. He realized that there was a clan custom that was always carried out after a warrior ceremony. New warriors would have to do a silent vigil outside the camp when the rest of the clan was sleeping. However, it was midday which created a problem. Usually, a warrior ceremony was held in the evening. This was a rare exception. Due to the ceremony being held in the afternoon, the clan decided that they should remain silent for the remainder of the day until the sun next arose.

Emeraldwing, silently leaving the camp, took her place outside the barrier. Dawnstripe took his place beside her. Shadowfire looked towards the medicine den. He needed to speak to StarClan again. Surely they'd allow a minor lapse in tradition to discuss the future of the forest, right? But then again… he didn't want to ruin how special that day was with the negative prophecies swirling around him. Rather than pondering it anymore, he went to join the two new warriors outside the tunnel. He could've sworn that he had seen Swiftpaw give him a really dirty look.

The sun finally began to set behind the trees. Brown leaves skittered across the ground and the chilled wind blew past his ears. Sonic's voice did return for only a short minute.

 _Shadow? You there?_

 _ **Yes.**_

 _Okay, good! We were able to figure out what Eggman did to you!_

 _ **Okay.**_

 _Apparently, when it hit you it was supposed to only-_

 _ **Sonic, that information can't possibly benefit me at the moment. Shut up so I can finish my clan tradition with a peaceful mind.**_

 _But don't you wanna-?_

 _ **No, Faker.**_

…

 _ **Yeah. Thanks.**_

Needless to say, not much was said between the two of them.

It fell dark and he started to shiver. Dawnstripe was doing surprisingly well in the cold. Mostly because he was wriggling around constantly unable to sit still. Emeraldwing was boldly toughing it out, but it was easy to see the slight tremble in her muscles from her shivers. Shadowfire resisted the cold a moment longer and then gave in. He strode over to Emeraldwing and sat right next to her. The warmth of her fur erased the cold almost completely and she stopped shivering. A sparkle was gleaming in her eyes as she stared admiringly at him. Dawnstripe was smirking at the sight and fluffing up his fur a little knowing what was going on.

Several long, stiff hours went by and the sun rose once again. Shadowfire shook himself and stood up. Emeraldwing looked extremely tired. Sonicwind popped out of the tunnel with the dawn patrol. "Hey, guys! Time to get up and moving! You can speak now too."

"Fiiiiiiiiiiinally!" Dawnstripe meowed stretching his legs out and opened his jaws in a huge, gaping yawn.

"Shadowfire, I'm going to the warrior's den… If any warriors care to yell at me for catching up on some sleep, they can call themselves birds and jump off of a cliff," Emeraldwing mumbled making her way back through the tunnel.

Shadowfire nodded and went to find Cosmicleaf. When he looked in the medicine den, he saw that she wasn't there. Only Creampelt. "Creampelt, where's Cosmicleaf?"

The cream-colored she-cat looked up at him. There was a bundle of herbs and leaves in her mouth. Once she put them down and sorted them out, she replied. "She went into the forest to look for some horsetail. we ran out earlier."

"Then where might I find horsetail?"

"They usually grow around wet areas. You'd have the best luck at Running Life River if you need to see her," Creampelt explained.

"Thanks."

Shadowfire gave her a curt nod and sprang out of the den. He raced from the camp not responding to his clanmates who tried to congratulate him on becoming a warrior. Beeflight almost crashed into him coming into the camp and he bounded past Diamondwing. There was no particular reason for his haste, but something felt off. Something felt terribly wrong. Cosmicleaf… was she in danger?

He came skidding to a halt once his paws reached the raging waters of the river. Shadowfire saw a clump of horsetail growing nearby. Plucking the stems, he skimmed over the area in hopes of seeing Cosmicleaf's snow-white fur. With all of the snow on the ground, it'd be easy for her to camouflage.

When he realized that she wasn't there, his fur bristled unsettlingly. Where could she possibly be?! Casting a quick glance at his paws, he saw a clump of horsetail on the ground. It was uprooted as if someone were trying to pick them and abandoned them all over the ground. Pawprints were running across the ground towards High Trees. That was when Shadowfire was in hot pursuit.

In no time at all, he found where the steps led him. The giant rock in the middle of High Trees. He was there with Emeraldwing only two days before. Rising to the sky covered in snow and moss was Soul Rock. Shadowfire was about to jump on top of it to get a better look at the area when he heard a low moaning sound. It was a cat! Not just any cat…

Shooting himself up the rock, he looked down at Cosmicleaf lying wounded on the cold stone. Her green eyes peered up at him weakly. "What… happened?"

"That's the question I was going to ask. Who did this to you?!" Shadowfire demanded beginning to haul her back to her paws.

Slowly her eyes became distant. When she found the answer, her focus snapped back to reality. "There was an intruder on our territory! From MoonClan!"

"MoonClan? What could they possibly want now…?" he asked under his breath.

Cosmicleaf trembled a little. "Not just an intruder… It was Metalclaw!"

 _Metalclaw? What could he possibly want…?_


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It wasn't all that long ago that there was an intruder announced to be snooping around SunClan territory. That's never good as one can probably tell. Not only that, but it was Metalclaw. The previous deputy of MoonClan who was rejected of his leadership after Scourgestar died. Being friends with Shadowfire made me feel less worried. He'd die for this clan. I like to think I'd do the same but…

When I opened my eyes in the warrior's den, I saw Sonicwind still curled up in his nest. Roseheart was staring at him with shiny, round eyes. It was somewhat encouraging to know that I at least didn't annoy Shadowfire by doing that. The thought of him made me begin to look for his sleek black pelt.

It became clear to me that he wasn't here. After double-checking to be sure, I arose from the nest and silently left. The clearing was abandoned. Once again, no Shadowfire. Just as I was going to check the medicine den, Camoflight appeared out of thin air.

"Emeraldwing…, you're looking for someone," Camoflight told me nodding his head in greeting.

His sudden appearance gave me a slight scare. It was only Camoflight… Letting my fur lie down, I nodded. "Yes, I'm looking for someone."

Camoflight glanced towards the bramble tunnel slowly. "He left to speak with StarClan. Shadowfire requested that I stay here to tell you when you awoke."

Twitching my whiskers, I lashed my tail across the ground with frustration. Figures. "That cat tells me to stop worrying… He should just stop worrying so much himself. His biggest concern should be how loud Crocscale snores in his sleep! It's like thunder and is really loud. Sleeping must be a miracle for all of you!"

Camoflight shrugged. "I don't know. When one is tired, they usually find rest at some point."

I simply sighed to myself. Why did Shadowfire always have to be that way? "Don't suppose you'll hang out with me until he gets back, would you? I don't want to go back into the warrior's den to Crocscale's snoring."

Camoflight chuckled a little and dipped his head. "Very well. I'm not on duty this morning. Knucklestar told me to stay away from the MoonClan camp for the time being. Even though he told us to stay, Diamondwing has been determined to learn more. I think she snuck out anyway."

The thought of Diamondwing snooping around on MoonClan territory didn't surprise me one bit. She once tried to steal gems from the MoonCliff out of curiosity of the consequences. She had been severely punished for that. By both Earthstar and StarClan. At the time, Earthstar was still the leader and Knuckleclaw was the deputy. Diamondwing was a spy for the clan since she was an apprentice.

Camoflight simply shrugged it off as if it meant nothing to him. Diamondwing could do whatever she wanted. For all he knew, she was doing them some good. "It's not like I don't care about her at all, but she's just a little too reckless for me. I can tell that Knucklestar definitely thinks highly of her, though. They've been friends since before I can remember." He blinked out of his remembering trance. "What about you and Shadowfire? Everyone's kinda noticed that the two of you are interested in each other."

"I- um… Yeah. I guess so. Is it really that easy to tell?" I asked somewhat embarrassed by his statement.

His whiskers twitched with amusement. "One cat knows and suddenly every cat knows. Especially if it is Dawnstripe who figures it out. He came barrelling into camp shouting, "Shadowfire and Emeraldwing are going to be mates!" and I happened to hear him. Wouldn't be surprised if every cat knew at this point."

My tail sagged a little. So much for privacy. We went to the fresh-kill pile and I chose a starling to eat. It was small and meek but I wasn't really all that hungry. Camoflight found a scrawny vole. Shadowfire could easily catch prey larger than that in his sleep. Even in the cold of leaf-bare which had officially come. Acorntail arose from the den and trotted across the clearing as if she were equally annoyed with Crocscale's snoring and curled up under Knucklestar's tree under a tree root.

"I've sensed immense power and potential in Shadowfire. He is very much like Shadowstrike. The deputy of SunClan before Knucklestar," Camoflight stated.

"I know all about Shadowstrike. Well, all except for one thing. How did Shadowstrike die exactly?" I asked curiously. I had heard every story about Shadowstrike from every cat except the story about his death.

Camoflight's eyes grew distant. "He died in an attack. Metalclaw killed him. Even though Metalclaw was only an apprentice, he was still strong. Mentored by Scourgestar himself. We buried his body by Running Life River. His soul hunts with StarClan now…"

 _I wish that were true._

Spitting out a mouthful of feathers from the starling, I glanced up towards the bramble tunnel. Ever since Cosmicleaf got attacked by Metalclaw earlier, cats have been antsy. Creampelt was able to fix up the medicine cat enough that she was still able to do her duties to the clan. Maybe that was why I was so concerned about Shadowfire.

"The sun's beginning to rise. Also, I think someone has returned," Camoflight pointed out as he looked up to the sky.

I glanced at the sky which was slowly brightening. Once the sun was barely above the horizon, I saw Shadowfire come back through the tunnel. Happiness sprang into me and I looked back at Camoflight feeling slightly guilty that I wanted to leave him behind rudely without saying goodbye or thank you.

"Emeraldwing, you don't have to tell me anything. I fulfilled Shadowfire's request, and now you must go to him. The dawn of a new day has sprung. With that beginning must come the end of this conversation…," he told me with a brief smile.

I dipped my head knowing my eyes were sparkling more than the sunrise. Quickly I began to run off with a quick thank you. He stayed where he was. I never noticed how nice Camoflight was. "Shadowfire!"

His black ears perked up at my shout. It looked like he was about to head to check on Cosmicleaf. Surely that could wait for a second, right? I trotted up to him and noticed he looked somewhat irritated about something. "What's the matter?" I asked.

Rather than answering, he gave my ear a swift lick. I didn't get why he did that. As I stared after him in confusion, he went to the medicine den. The sun spiked above the horizon. Something in me felt bad about something.

Camoflight watched what had happened with a solemn look. He stood to his paws and made his way back to the warrior's den. Beeflight came strolling out of the den to greet him.

"Hey, Camoflight! Did Diamondwing go off by herself again?" Beeflight inquired blinking the sleep from his eyes.

Camoflight nodded in reply. "Something bad's happened. I could see it on Shadowfire's face," he told the young warrior.

"Oh. That's not good," he stated.

"It will be better if you didn't start spreading rumors through the camp. Whatever you do, don't tell Dawnstripe."

"Understood, Camoflight! You can count on me!"

I could see them talking to each other. My black fur bristled with anger and disappointment. Shadowfire just… brushed me off! He barely even acknowledged my existence! Was it really so bad that he had to tell Cosmicleaf and Creampelt that badly?!

Feeling like running myself into the Soul Rock in the forest, I went to sit by Acorntail. Her brown pelt rose and fell steadily. "Hey, Acorntail!" I whispered loudly. Nudging her, she finally awoke.

"Emeraldwing? What do you want…? The sun has barely risen…," she groaned.

"I need to ask about Sonicwind!"

At the mention of the deputy, Acorntail reluctantly sat up. She made sure not to hit her head on the tree root. "Alright, if it's about Sonicwind…"

"I need to know what you do when he does something that annoys you," I quickly explained trying not to take up too much of her time.

"That's what you wanted to know? Why the question?"

I leered back at the medicine den. "Shadowfire and his messed up priorities…"

Acorntail's fur fluffed up a little and she yawned. "Shadowfire and Sonicwind are very different cats. I'm not sure I can help you out. However, I do know that Shadowfire's priorities probably aren't messed up. He's not a dumb cat. I think you're just jealous or something that he's not directing his full attention towards you," she said this and curled up under the tree root again.

"Wha-?! How can you say that! Acorntail! A warrior can't be _jealous_! Vanillaflower always told me that was a nasty emotion!" I huffed. JEALOUS.

"It kind of is because jealousy leads to selfishness. But I can understand why you feel like that… Sonicwind does sometimes give me that feeling too," she explained.

"What feeling?" I asked amazed she even had feelings.

"You like Shadowfire, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then you should know perfectly well what feeling I'm talking about," she replied. Closing her eyes for the final time, she fell back into her deep slumber.

I stood there even more confused than I began. Feelings? What did that have to do with anything? Apparently, Acorntail wasn't the one who could help me. Slightly more upset, I glanced back at the medicine den. Shadowfire emerged from the entrance and slowly made his way towards the warrior's den. It was true that he had gotten no rest at all ever since Metalclaw's sudden appearance. Visits to the MoonCliff really only made him more exhausted. Her anger melted into sympathy.

"But… then again… I suppose that he can do what he wants… I should go on a patrol or something," I told myself. Maybe I was making too big of a deal about things. He deserved sleep. After deciding to catch some prey for the clan, I dove through the tunnel and made for the trees. Surely I could catch a piece of prey that's bigger than the ones he catches!

The prey I found were all very small and pathetic. A scrawny mouse… A tiny vole… The occasional finch… Just as I was about to give up all hope, I saw a giant, fat mouse. Beaming at my luck, I killed it with a swift blow and trotted triumphantly back to camp. Dropping it onto the fresh-kill pile, I looked instinctively over at the warrior's den. The thought of Shadowfire ate away at my brain. Shaking away the thought, I forced myself to instead find Sonicwind who had already woken up. "Sonicwind!"

The deputy's ears perked up at my summoning. "Emeraldwing! Hi! Just saw that you came back from a lone hunting patrol. You sure did catch a lot of prey… That mouse was very impressive," he complimented warmly.

"Yeah, thanks. I had to get my mind off of something."

"Was it Shadowfi-"

"NO! It was not! I'm not thinking about him that much! Stop it!"

Sonicwind got a smirk on his face. Then he became the serious deputy again. "So, what is it you needed me for? Any signs of Metalclaw while you were gone?"

"No. Just scrawny prey. I wanted to see if I could join any patrols."

Sonicwind looked surprised at my request. "But you just came back from a lone hunting patrol. Whatever's on your mind must require a lot of work to distract you from it."

Flattening my ears at him when he started smirking again, I huffed and turned away towards the warrior's den. Crocscale wasn't in there sleeping anymore. Sonicwind's laughter echoed across the clearing. How he ever became the deputy is still beyond me.

I plopped down into a nest and just sat there. Sleep didn't come because I wasn't actually tired. My gaze drifted to the other end of the den at Shadowfire. He was sleeping soundly. And why wouldn't he?

"Stop thinking about Shadowfire… Stop thinking about Shadowfire…," I told myself quietly. Rather than continuing to stare at him, I forced shut my eyes. It didn't help any. I was still imagining his face all too clearly.

 **Shadowfire's POV**

Their eyes were burning into mine. I could feel their hatred projected towards me as I stood over them. My red eyes shimmered as I stared at my fallen enemy. MoonClan. My black pelt glistened magnificently. As I listened to their wails of defeat, I shouted an order to charge. StarClan, under my command, rushed from the undergrowth and sent MoonClan scrambling for the hills. They shrieked as starry warriors slashed at them. I only relaxed when they finally disappeared into the horizon as if the rising sun had vaporized them all.

"Good work, StarClan! The forest is rid of one more threat. Now SunClan shall live in peace with no worries," I told them. Cheers arose through the clearing. Suddenly, I felt a harsh tang of irritation run down my flank.

 _It's not real. If only it were that easy…_

I wondered to myself what my life would be like once The Lake of the Lost cats were defeated somehow. Would my life be any different? A vision of Emeraldwing flew through my mind.

"Shadowfire, why are you always so reckless?" her memory asked.

"Because I have to be to protect you and my clan," I reminded the memory. Was it more to myself? Did I just give myself a reason to be reckless? Why did I care if she worried about me or not?

The thought faded away. My victory dream was replaced by troubling thoughts. Figures. Without even thinking about it, I melted into another dream.

I blinked awake to find that it was night. Was I asleep the entire day? Knucklestar was awfully generous to let me sleep in for so long. Glancing over to Emeraldwing's nest, I saw her sitting there wide awake unable to even think about sleep at first glance.

"Emeraldwing…?" I asked lifting my head to signal I was now awake. She barely responded and continued staring off into space. Her eyes were almost laced with misery. "Emeraldwing!" I whispered louder.

This time, her ears perked up. Her eyes that once looked sad then looked dull and energy drained. When she looked up to meet my gaze, she didn't seem nearly as lively as she usually was. Emeraldwing finally responded. "You sleep a long time…"

"I just realized that." I stood and evaded the sleeping cats and nests. When I got to her, I sat next to her. "You don't look so good."

She rested her head on her paws. "Sonicwind said I was too distracted to perform my warrior duties today. Knucklestar seemed to understand my constant worries about you. That was when I started having these dizzy spells. Cosmicleaf couldn't help and Creampelt was too busy helping her. She just told me to go to the den and rest there until she could get to me… I've been here ever since. Even thinking about standing up makes me dizzy…"

I flattened my ears in confusion. Dizzy spells? Emeraldwing was fine earlier. Now she looked completely sapped of all energy and depressed. "That doesn't sound good."

"It doesn't feel good, mouse-brain," she feebly insulted as if that were obvious. It did seem to bring a little of her old personality back.

"I'll talk to Creampelt and Cosmicleaf tomorrow about this. It may just be you, but if it's not… We may have a problem," I stated plainly.

"We? You're not the one who's stuck in their nest until further notice," she replied snappily. As soon as I was certain her old self was back, She growled and clawed the ground suddenly. "And it's back again…"

I couldn't help but be reminded of when she went to the medicine den because she got a thorn stuck in her paw. The differences were that there was actually someone to ease the pain and that at the time it was funny. Now he could only wonder if this was a sign of something. No medicine cat available because of Creampelt fixing up the medicine cat. Every cat worries because he's not there anymore. The one cat he cares for falls victim to something far worse than originally speculated. Could it be possible that StarClan was sending a sign through these seemingly random events?

"Is something wrong?" Emeraldwing asked bringing me out of my deep state of thought. Blinking all previous thoughts from my mind, I shook my head at her.

"No. Nothing that you need to be concerned about. If anything, I'm the one who should be worried. You look exhausted," I told her.

"Dizzy spells make me tired…, but it hurt too much for me to sleep a wink…," she answered.

I felt sympathy rush through my fur. There wasn't anything I could do to help her out physically. I wasn't a medicine cat and I had no knowledge of herbs or roots. All I knew I could do was try to make her feel emotionally better. "Would it be better if I stayed?"

She slowly nodded. "Yes…, Shadowfire." After saying this, she lifted her head to be level with mine. She let her sandpaper-like tongue rasp over my forehead before she curled back up in her nest.

Her action sent my mind and heart racing for some reason. My mind frantically trying to interpret what it meant and my heart beating faster than it ever had. Licking my chestfur awkwardly, I decided to ask a question that had been on my mind and chewing away at my thoughts. "Emeraldwing…, how much do you love me…?"I was getting hot under my fur from the possible answers to my question. I couldn't help but want to look away, but the feeling that overtook me at her thought kept me drawn near to her.

The black she-cat closed her eyes trying to think of the perfect answer. "Enough that I'd die for you in a heartbeat without a second thought. You've taken up so much of my thoughts and… I want you… to officially from this point on and forever to be my mate!" she told me.

Her words contented me. They were the same words I would have said. I'd die for Emerldwing if it came down to it. I intertwined my tail with hers and purred softly with thoughts of a peaceful clan life with her. My mission in that world came back to me, and I shoved it off to the side. Not now. Emeraldwing was all that was important now. "You know, I would have said the exact same thing."

Just before we both trailed off to sleep, I heard a familiar voice in the darkness. My ears flattened with alarm and embarrassment at being completely overheard. I could recognize his voice anywhere.

"Lovebirds…," Sonicwind's voice snickered.

"SONICWIND!"


End file.
